Reminiscence is Calling
by hylianprincessZ
Summary: They were separated when he had to go off to a prestigious university. They promised each other they would meet again, but eighteen years later, she's widowed, and he's disappeared from her life completely. When her friend locates him, will she follow through with the promise or let the past stay the past? And just what will her son say? AU Zelink COMPLETED!
1. Cutest Couple

**Well, here you go! Another romance story, hee hee. And this time it is not a One-shot! *gasp* Me? Not writing a one-shot? But what about The Legend Of Zelda: Nightwane's Curse? Well, I am putting that story on hold, you can find out why in my profile ;) Anyway, please enjoy my newest story, Reminiscence is Calling!**

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Chapter 1: Cutest Couple

_She stared at his handsome face; he had a strong smile, and the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen. However now, his eyes were sad, and his smile nonexistent as he placed his strong arms on her tiny shoulders._

"_Zel, I'm sorry."_

_ Why would he be sorry? He had no reason to be, even if they were going out. She smiled, confusion riddled on her face._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_W-we need to go our separate ways."_

"_What? B-but, we love each other right?_

"_Yes, I do love you, Zel. However, I don't think it's fair to you to have you wait for me. That is why, when I go to college in Faron, I don't want you to wait for me. Go on with your life, but I will come back to get you, if you still want me, after my schooling is done. It's going to take more than eight years though. I have to get my doctorate. I must if I want that apprenticeship I've been talking about."_

"_I understand."_

"_You do?"_

"_Yes, you will be gone, out of my life, for more than eight years, and during that time period you want me to keep dating. Keep seeing other guys, because you don't want me to feel 'tethered' to a guy who isn't even in my life. I get that, but this is what I say to it. Bull Shit. You can tell me that, but what happens if I marry huh? What will you do then?"_

"_Well, like I said, I will only return if you want me. If you're married, I'll continue on in my career, same goes for you. Don't forget about your flute."_

"_Okay, silly. But know this: I will not forget about you. I will hold on and wait as long as I can. I will not date unless someone really strikes me as special. Understand?"_

"_Of course."  
_

"_Good."_

"_I- *Ring Ring* Okay? Don't you ever *Ring Ring*"_

"_I got it."_

"_*Ring Ring*"_

_She couldn't understand him, but she answered anyway. What was that ringing? What had he said? Her head was swimming with too many questions. . ._

Zelda awoke with a moan as her phone rang in her ear. Groggily, she sat up under her white covers in her bedroom. The room was a nice shade of Lavender, with several throw pillows and random green bean bags. Zelda was laying in a master bed, and she fingered the area where her husband used to lay….

*ring ring*

"All right already!" Zelda snapped, grabbing at the fuzzy pink phone. It had been a gag gift from her friend Saria. Zelda hated the color pink, and fluffy things didn't go her way. She wondered why she had yet to throw the stupid phone out. Oh well.

"Zelda! Guess what!"

The over cheery voice on the other end told Zelda that it was her friend Marin. The girl had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and an orange flower was always in her hair. Always, even at Zelda's husband's funeral last year. That flower had annoyed Zelda, but she let it slide, seeing as Marin really didn't take no for an answer.

"What?" Zelda replied with a sigh, glancing at the clock. It was six in the morning, there were two more hours of sleep Zelda could be having before she had to get her son ready for school. Ugh, good job Marin.

"I found him! Oh my gosh! He's here in the morning paper! He won some award for his geologic work or whatever."

Marin didn't act like a 35 year old, Zelda thought. Her friend, Midna, agreed. On the other hand, Midna didn't like Marin that much.

"Wait. Who are you talking about?"

"Geez, you need to keep up! Link! You know? Your old beau back in high school?"

Oh. Him. Zelda hadn't thought of him in forever. That reminded her of the dream she had just had. That was their "break up"; it had been the biggest thing in school for two months. Zelda had no idea why, it left her crying for only one week.

She had tried to keep her promise to Link too, but then she had met her husband at a carnival. Now that she thought about it, Marin had been the one to introduce them. Maybe that was when Marin officially became Zelda's friend. She had needed Marin to get to her husband, Ike Royale.

Her and him had gotten a lot of laughs out of his last name, Zelda remembered fondly.

"Oh, yeah. I remember him. Why, what about him?"

"Well, you told me a couple years ago that you had wanted to find him."

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to catch up on old times! You know, reminisce?"

"Y-yeah, but that was years ago. Now I have Sheik to take care of." Zelda yawned. It was too damn early. Before Marin could get another word in, Zelda spoke again, rather agitated,

"Look, Marin. I know you're excited, but can't this wait until brunch? My head hurts, it's too early."

"Um, Okay. Sorry then Zelda. See you at brunch." Marin said flatly before the other line ended.

Zelda sighed, she felt bad that she had snapped at Marin, but she really didn't want to talk about something so taxing at the moment. Link was a complicated subject. He had been her first love interest back in high school, and they had gone out for a majority of it. Then when Link graduated (he had been a year ahead of Zelda) he had broken off the ties. He was to attend South Faron University, a prestigious science academy that had the latest in science exposure. Link had gotten accepted, of course.

The school was so prestigious that it required all of its students to focus on their studies basically twenty four hours a day, for fear of failing a class. In other words, Link couldn't see Zelda for eight years. He was just going to (poof!) leave her life for eight whole years. That had obviously made Zelda mad, in fact after that one week of tears was followed by three weeks of punching pillows and ripping up stuffed animals. Those poor animals…

If you hadn't noticed, Zelda had an awful temper, which had placed her past relationships in danger plenty of times before. Zelda spoke her mind, she really couldn't help it. And, to most people's surprise, "harsh" Zelda also played the flute. She had participated in the County Orchestra and Band for five years, but she quit after she had to move from Castle Town to Eldin Province with her new husband. There, amongst the rock, she had lived the rest of her twelve year marriage to Ike with her son Sheik.

Ike had died at the beginning of the twelfth year from brain cancer. Zelda had never been sadder in her whole life, and Sheik, having been eleven at the time, had been out of it for five whole months. They had mourned together, along with all of their friends and family. Just a few months ago, Zelda had finally put her life back together. She no longer went to bed crying, and neither did Sheik.

They really did mirror each other, they even looked similar. They both had platinum blonde hair, violet eyes, and fair complexion. The only thing from Ike that Sheik received was his motor skills. The kid was like a ninja.

However, that didn't mean that Ike and Sheik weren't close. It was the opposite, those two were inseparable. They did everything together, watched movies, played baseball, ran, talked, laughed, and sang. It was amazing. Amazing that Ike could do all that, still work full time as a lawyer for Gorons, and keep Zelda happy. He truly was incredible.

So incredible, that the goddesses had felt the need to take him from her. Zelda sighed again, tossing and turning in her bed. There was no way she was going to sleep now, she was too riled up. She got out of her bed and stood, stretching her arms high into the air. She quickly got changed from her baby blue satin pajamas to more appropriate "mom" wear: Jeans, white lace camisole, and a dark green cardigan. She then put on a light brush of makeup, pearl earrings and a pearl necklace. She then stepped into a pair of light brown sandals and proceeded downstairs.

It was now 6:30 A.M. and Zelda decided to start on a special breakfast for Sheik. She would make him pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Better than that cereal he usually ate. She walked past the marble entryway of their two story farm style house. She then proceeded past the living room with a large leather sofa and a leather love seat with a glass coffee table in front of it. Zelda didn't own a television because it rots kids' brains, so they improvised with a huge wooden bookcase filled to the brim with books. Zelda glance at it as she passed through and stopped in her tracks.

On the shelf was a variety of books. There were Fairy tales and children's stories from when Sheik was younger, Law theses, Action stories, encyclopedia sets, a huge variety of fiction best-sellers, and non-fiction on tons of topics from Ancient Hyrule to the lifestyle of the infamous Gerudo. Also on this shelf were Zelda's yearbooks from high school. She couldn't bear to part with them; high school really had been great, no matter how much she was indifferent to Link now.

Zelda walked over to the high shelves and reached up to grab her junior yearbook. She looked at the dusty white cover; on it depicted the Triforce, with tiny pictures of the schools large sports selection put together in a yellow hue to make up the Power triangle, all of the clubs making up the Courage triangle, and various academic pictures making up the Wisdom triangle. It was beautifully and intricately made by the Yearbook Club all those years ago, and Zelda truly appreciated their effort.

She brushed off the dust with her hand, and opened the yearbook up. Inside were black and white pictures of all of the students and their activities, obviously. Zelda paged through to the section laid aside for the seniors and looked at the "Senior Picks"

Class Clown: Tingle Dingle

Best Smile: Saria Forester

Most Fashion Forward: Marin Tarin (Zelda burst out laughing at the atrocious dress Marin was wearing. It had a deep turtleneck at the top that flared out into a jean skirt. It was hideous, but was the style at the time.)

Best Car: Dark Shadow

Most artistically talented: Malon Lon Lon

Cutest Couple: Link Avalon and Zelda Harkinian

And there they were, holding hands and looking at the camera, huge smiles on their faces. Link was two heads taller than Zelda, and their blonde hair showed through the black and white film. Link was built; he had been a fencer and a black belt in Kung-Fu. He wore a sweater and jeans, while Zelda wore a long bohemian skirt with a blouse. Seniors had voted for them even though Zelda wasn't a Senior, but a Junior, at the time.

Zelda fingered the photo, caught in her memories. The first date at the soda shop, dinner then the movies, their re-enactment of Mars Attacks (it had turned out better than the original film, in Zelda's opinion), trip to the bowling alley with Dark and Midna…

"Mom?"

Zelda dropped the book in shock. Sheik was standing there in the hallway, staring at her quizzically, and he was still wearing his Hero of Time pajamas. Zelda smiled, embarrassed.

"Oh, good morning Sheik! Why are you up so early?"

"I heard you laugh. We've been over this mom; your laugh is really loud."

Zelda chuckled, "You are too much like me! So straightforward!" She walked over to him, and tussled his already messy blonde hair.

"Now I was thinking of making pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Great! I'm starving!"

"Alright, go upstairs and get ready for school," Zelda glanced at the clock, it was only 6:45!

"Even though you have more than an hour to get ready." she laughed easily.

"Okay." Sheik turned and ran back upstairs, banging all the way up.

"So noisy." Zelda chuckled, returning to pick up the yearbook. She looked at the picture again, and then returned the book to the shelf. Sighing yet again, Zelda went to the kitchen to make Sheik his breakfast.

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**What did you think? I got the idea for this from an episode from _On The Fly_ on TLC. It was a story of a long lost couple getting back together. It was really quite cute, so I was like. "I Know! I'll make a fan-fic about it!" But don't worry, it is a lot different from the show, it was just a basis of inspiration. Thanks for reading, and please review! If you do, I'll give you, uh, a plushie Link! With sword swinging and sheild bashing action. Oh, you know you want this plushie *holds it up* so review! Please?**


	2. Monday Brunch

**Yay! Chapter two! Geez, I am such a fast uploader! Just kidding, I was just feeling the "new story: vibe and decided to write two chapters. You know what I mean. Anyway, please enjoy chapter two!**

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Chapter 2: Monday Brunch

At around 7:10 A.M. Sheik came banging back down the stairs. Zelda rolled her eyes and placed his plate of two pancakes, three eggs, and two pieces of bacon on the kitchen table. She laid down a napkin, fork, knife, and a glass. She then filled the glass halfway with milk.

Sheik slid into his chair and immediately chowed down. He was such a messy eater, and it got so bad that he was flinging eggs by accident across the table.

"Sheik! You are a pig, slow down! Do you want me to take your breakfast away from you?"

Sheik gulped, "N-no mom, I don't. I'm sorry." He then took his fork and slowly stabbed the yellow and white mash and slowly raised it to his mouth. It was like watching him eat in slow motion, wait that was exactly what Zelda was doing.

"Are you mocking me, boy?" She asked in a dangerous tone.

"Yes." Sheik said simply.

"Well, thanks for being honest. Now cut that out and eat in a normal manner."

"Okay."

Zelda chuckled, even though she had been annoyed a few moments earlier. She was glad that Sheik was always honest with her, even if it was something she didn't want to hear. Likewise, she did the same for him. They maintained a healthy relationship this way.

When he was done, he went over to the living room and took a book out of the bookshelf as Zelda began to clean up breakfast. She didn't eat anything because she was going to brunch at ten o'clock with her girlfriends, which she had mentioned to Marin earlier.

In the living room, Sheik had brought down Zelda's yearbooks. He was looking through her junior yearbook, and stopped on the page of the "Senior Picks".

"Hey, mom?" He called into the kitchen, his eyes glued to the 'Cutest Couple' picture.

"Yes, honey?" Zelda called back, washing Sheik's syrupy plate.

"Who's this?" He said, entering the kitchen again.

"Who?" Zelda said, glancing at the yearbook picture to where Sheik's 6th grade finger was pointing.

"Oh, him? His name is Link; he was my first boyfriend, before your Daddy." Sheik frowned slightly at the mention of Ike, but bounced back immediately, a more pressing matter at hand.

"You didn't always go out with Dad?"

Zelda laughed, "Of course not! That is impossible."

"My friend at school's mom did that."

"Well, then she is one of those lucky few who can do something like that." Zelda said plainly, wiping down the plate and placing it in the drying rack.

"Oh." Was all Sheik said in reply. Zelda looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Something the matter, Sheik?" She asked, wiping down the clean counter.

"I don't like him. Link, I mean."

"Hmm? Why? You don't even know him Sheik!" Zelda exclaimed, suddenly defensive.

"Because he might replace Dad." Sheik scoffed, as if it was obvious, and walked off with the yearbook.

"Because… he might replace Dad?" Zelda repeated, her voice low because she was surprised.

An hour later, Zelda waved at Sheik as he got on the big yellow bus. He waved back, ascending into the belly of the beast. Zelda smiled, raising her cup of coffee to her mouth. She turned and re-entered the house to go call the girls and see who was going to brunch.

_It's nine o'clock, plenty of time to call each of them up. I know Marin is going, no need to call her. She might try to pick the conversation back up. I don't want that, since I think I know what she was trying to get at._

Zelda picked up her ridiculous pink phone and dialed Midna's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Middie, its Zelda."

"Zel! Are you going to brunch?"

"Yeah! That's what I called to ask."

"Good! Marin has something important to tell you."

"Oh? Oh! She already told me. She 'found' Link. Honestly Middie, I don't know what I feel about that. Sheik just told me he hated Link."

"No kidding! I told Marin to shove it up her-"

"Oy! Middie! Calm down! I don't want to talk about it right now. I'll see you at brunch, at Telma's place."

"Sorry. Gotcha. Bye!"

Midna hung up, and Zelda put her face in her hand. Midna was a handful, in fact most of her friends were out there. She chuckled, dialing Saria's number.

"Hello?" She asked sweetly, picking up at the first ring.

"Hey, Saria. It's Zelda…"

"Oh, Zelda! I was waiting for your call! Marin told me about Link-"

"Not you too!" Zelda groaned, "Just how many people did she tell Saria?"

"Everyone."

"I officially hate her."

"Zelda!"

"Sorry, look is everyone going to brunch?"

"I think so, everyone but Anju. She says her and Kafei are going to Zora's Hotel and Casino for the week. You know the one with the humongous fish tank that holds those Zora races?"

"Oh, yeah. She told me about that. Okay, thanks Saria, I will see you at ten. Telma's Place, can you make sure everyone knows?"

"Yep! Cheer up Zelda, and see you!"

Zelda hung up the phone, suddenly dreading brunch. Why did Marin have to do that? Couldn't she have just waited until she got Zelda's reaction?

She contemplated calling her, but one look at the clock told her she had to leave. She had to go to the store to pick up a few things before brunch. . .

"Oh look! Zelda's here!" Marin exclaimed, her face pressed up to the window. Pleasant.

All of the girls turned their heads as they saw Zelda park her purple sedan in the parking lot for Telma's Place. She got out, shut the car door, and entered the little diner. She was immediately showered with excited questions pertaining Link. They had all gone to the same high school, so they all knew him, and they all knew about something Zelda didn't. But we'll not delve into that now.

Zelda smiled half-heartedly, hugging Ruto, Saria, Midna, Malon, Marin, Saria, Fi, and Romani all at once. Afterwards, they all returned to their seats, and Zelda noticed that Marin had specifically saved a seat for her next to her. Putting on a fake smile, she slid in the booth next to her.

"Well, Zelda, as I had been saying before you so rudely hung up on me earlier, I found Link!"

"I wasn't the one who went around waking people up at ungodly hours." Zelda pointed out, and the rest of the brunch party nodded. Marin scowled,

"Well, you need to get up earlier anyway! Malon was up an hour before I called!"

"Yeah, well Malon lives on a ranch, remember? She has animals to take care of." Zelda said, rolling her eyes behind her menu.

Malon smiled good-naturedly, "So, how did Sheik take it?" She asked.

"Didn't tell him."

Ruto's head perked up, "What? Why not?"

"Because it doesn't matter." Zelda said with a bored tone, placing her menu down.

"Look are we just gonna talk about him the whole time? Or are we actually going to get food? I am _starving_." The girls nodded, and Fi signaled for the waiter.

He came over, smiling, "What can I get you?" He asked pleasantly.

"One coffee and cream chipped beef." Zelda said, handing him her menu.

"The three eggs, three pancakes special." Midna said. All of the women looked at her, "What? Like Zelda said, 'I am _starving_.'" She said, grinning.

The rest of the women ordered, giving the man their menus. He nodded, and walked off, the menus under his arm.

"Alright, happy Zelda?" Romani asked pointedly, playing with the jam in the center of the table.

"You are all immature freaks." Zelda muttered, crossing her arms.

"I agree." Fi said, bored written across her face. She was never one to talk about relationships. She was going to die alone, and that was something she had proclaimed proudly.

Marin glared at Fi, "A-n-y-w-a-y, here's the paper, Zellie! He won some kind of Science award. I dunno, I didn't read the article. Also don't mind the coffee stain; I did a spit take when I saw it."

"Great to know." Midna muttered.

Zelda looked at her, chuckling. She looked at the paper, and in fact there was Link. His face plastered on the front page of _Gossip Gazette_, the number one Hylian paper. It was hard to read the article though, since Marin's morning coffee had covered it completely.

"Why didn't you get a new one Marin?" Zelda asked, mildly annoyed. The waiter returned, bringing all of the coffee. The women thanked him and he, curtsied?, and walked off. They stared at him in shock. Ruto breathed a sigh of relief when she saw some chubby mustachioed man giving their waiter money, laughing heartily. The women laughed as well, breaking the building tension.

"Well, Zellie," Marin continued, laughing, "I just didn't have the time."

"Well what were you doing this morning that didn't allow you to get a paper? I mean, you were up oh-so-early!"

"O-oh nothing!" She said sweetly. Too sweetly. Hmm.

Midna raised her eyebrow, her mean girl side coming out, "Uh, sneaky much? You sound like you're lying. What is this 'nothing'? Hmm?"

Marin turned red with the sudden quiet attention, and quickly diverted everyone's attention by saying,

"Oh l-look! The food's here!" She laughed uneasily.

Everyone cheered as the waiter placed the food in front of them, steaming and ready to eat. They ate for several minutes in silence, savoring each bite. Finally, Zelda wiped her mouth and cleared her throat. They all looked at her expectantly,

"Okay Marin. What is this all really about? I mean, yeah, you found Link. But why are you so damn excited? It really isn't that special."

Marin's mischievous smile returned, "Oh well. It is quite simple actually. You see, I got us all tickets to South Faron Province, Link is a professor at the University you know. He teaches Geology. Oh! And I gave him a call, saying you would be coming Zelda. He got really excited when I told him."

Now it was Zelda's turn to do a spit-take. It sprayed all over poor Ruto and Fi, who blinked in shock as the dark brown liquid sprayed across their faces.

"You did what!" Zelda growled, glaring at Marin, who smiled sheepishly.

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**Good? Bad? Ugly? Please review! And now I am sleeping, since I have Cross Country practice tomorrow, Adios amigos!**


	3. A Change of Heart

**Here is chapter 3 of Reminiscence is Calling! I hope you enjoy :3 And please review! Also, thank you guys so much for your kind reviews! **

**YUKIECLAIR: aw, thank you so much! I had no idea that you did such a thing! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

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Chapter 3: A Change of Heart

"C-calm down Zellie! All I did was get you a plane ticket to South Faron Province! And Link knows you're coming." Marin said meekly, scared by the intense glare she was getting from the 35 yr-old blonde.

"Calm down? Calm down! Marin, you do realize I had no intention of meeting back up with Link, right? I mean, the guy has been out of my life for 18 years! I don't need or want to see him again. That is what school reunions are for." Zelda said, getting angrier by the minute.

"Can't you give it a chance?" Malon asked, placing a tender hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"No! You don't understand! You remember our breakup right?"

"Yes! It had been the saddest and most romantic thing ever to occur in Castle Academy."

"Well, you don't remember the nature of the promise then either. He said he'd come back if I still wanted him. Newsflash, I got married! I obviously don't want him anymore, that's why he stayed away and became a professor at South Faron University." Zelda explained; her teeth gritted as she gestured toward the _Gossip Gazette_.

"I never wanted you to get married." Malon replied quietly, playing with her hair.

"Malon!" Saria exclaimed, shushing her immediately before Zelda heard.

"Anyway, this is too much drama for ladies in their thirties." Fi said, quietly sipping her coffee, "Can't there be some kind of resolution?"

"Yes, thank you Fi! Marin, I want you to return those tickets at once!"

"Oh, I didn't buy all of the tickets. Just yours, Sheik's, and mine!" Marin exclaimed giddily.

Zelda looked at the entire brunch party, "You all knew about this? You knew about this huge plan before _I _did?_ Even though it concerns me?"_ Zelda's voice was getting dangerously shrill. Meekly, the entire party nodded their heads, even Fi who had explained that she would not be joining them on their escapade.

"I can't believe you guys!" Zelda exclaimed before turning back to Marin, "And Marin, return my and Sheik's tickets. We shall not be joining you."

"Oh, I can't do that Zellie-"

"Don't call me that!"

"Fine, _Zelda_. As I was saying, the travel company told me that all sales were final. So, I can't return the tickets."

"Then you'll have to give them to someone else. How about Anju and Kafei?"

"Oh, they already have their own tickets."

"Oh." was all Zelda could say. She was running out of ideas, and this whole situation was making her terribly upset.

"Hey, Zel. You know I would never go behind your back with these kinds of things, "Midna began.

"Wait! Why can she call you 'Zel' but I can't call you 'Zellie'?" Marin asked, peeved.

"Because I actually like the nickname 'Zel', 'Zellie' sounds like a ten year olds nickname. If you haven't noticed, I'm thirty five." Zelda spat back sarcastically. She was going to say something more obscene, but decided that now was not the right time.

"_Anyway_," Midna cut back in, throwing Marin a pointed look, "Zel, I honestly think this will be good for you. You have not healed completely from the loss of Ike, may he rest in peace, and no matter how many times you say you're fine, I know you're not. The best way to fix a broken heart is to fall in love again."

"I. Will. Not. Fall. In. Love. With. Link." Zelda hissed, "I do not wish to fall in love again, and I _am_ fine Middie, absolutely perfect. Never better."

"I've seen you better, when you were married; you never got angry with anybody. You were the most level-headed one here next to Fi."

That shut Zelda up. It was true after all, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. The angry ones then were Marin and Romani. They always complained about everything, but now Zelda got mad at everything. Bitter scorn perhaps?

"Anyway, you also know I don't agree with Marin a lot, and when I do you can believe I think it is a good idea. Marin doesn't have a lot of good ideas, like the time she decided it was a 'good idea' to go to that biker bar and wear only a sports bra and shorts. She was getting looks all night! Or when she went to the Lost Woods theme park without bug spray, she was covered in golden bug bites for a week. Or when-"

"Alright she gets it!" Marin snapped, "Look Zelda, just please come with us? If Link is a total douche then we'll leave, okay?"

Zelda looked at all of the expecting faces of her friends. The hope in their eyes shone brightly and the smile on their faces finally made Zelda crack.

"All right." Zelda grumbled, "When are we leaving?"

"Saturday!" Romani squealed, clapping her hands.

"Isn't that a little bit of short notice?" Zelda mused raising her eyebrow incredulously.

"Well, Sheik has Spring Break next week right? That's why we chose to leave Saturday."

"Oh. Okay, um I have to go now." Zelda said hurriedly. She pulled out her purse and laid down her share of the check, grabbed her jacket and left. Her friends looking after her quizzically.

"How could I forget?" Zelda said to herself, "Sheik isn't gonna want to go! He told me this morning he hated Link, and he'll think I'm betraying Ike! Oh, what am I going to do?"

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"No. I'm not going." Sheik said, his violet eyes burning with refusal.

"Can't you just think about it?" Zelda pleaded, running her hands through her hair. She was looking at Sheik across the kitchen table as they ate dinner. It was a platter of Lake Hylia Shrimp Scampi with a lemon and garlic sauce. It was delicious, but the happy family mood was ruined by Zelda's probing question.

"What's there to think about?" Sheik said hotly, "I don't want to see your ex-boyfriend that just doesn't make sense Mom."

"Why?" Zelda returned, biting into a crustacean.

"Because, why would I support you meeting up with another man, who isn't Dad, in the hopes of rekindling a relationship?"

"That is where you are wrong, Sheik. I am not going in the hopes of 'rekindling a relationship'; I am going because my friends are forcing me. They already bought us tickets, and they can't be returned."

"So? Just give them to some random stranger! It doesn't matter, I'm not going."

"Now this is where I get to use my authorative power on you, lil' boy! You are going, because I am going, and because I can't get a week long baby sitter!"

"Just send me to Mom-mom's and Pop-pop's." he said coolly, blowing on a shrimp before putting it in his mouth.

"You hate Mom-mom's and Pop-pop's. You can't even stand going there for half a day, much less a week. You're going, that's final. Who knows? Something good might come out of this preposterous situation."

Sheik gave her one more glare before he ignored Zelda for the rest of the night. He wasn't happy, but he would just have to deal with it. Usually Zelda gave him a chance to debate with her on choices she made for him, and very rarely did she have to put her foot down, but when she did, Sheik knew to just give it up. Nothing was going to change Zelda's mind, nothing.

Zelda cleaned up the dinner dishes before she went back up to her room. When she did, she got out of her clothes and, feeling too lazy to pull out a clean pair, put on her pajamas from that morning. She picked up her crazy pink phone and dialed Midna.

"Hellooooo?" Midna said in a lazy accent. She was probably in the bath, she was strange like that.

"Hey Middie." sure enough, Zelda heard splashing in the background.

"Oh, hey Zel, today was pretty crazy huh? Did you get the little man to agree?"

"Yeah, after some argument. Hey, I forgot to ask, what time is our flight?"

"Marin got a late flight, she said something about 'watching the lights of South Faron Province come to life' or whatever. I think she said eight o'clock."

"Oh, okay. Uh, Middie?" Zelda said, apprehensive to what answer her closest friend might give her.

"Yes?" came Midna's lazy reply, followed by more splashing.

"Do you think he'll recognize me? Or do you think he'll still be the same kind of person who remembers everybody?"

"That's hard to say Zel. The only advice I can give you is to act natural, if he doesn't like you the way you are, then you can keep the life you have right now. But hey, anything can happen right?"

"I'll say this one more time, Middie. I am not looking for love; in fact I'm only coming because you guys forced me. Got it?"

"Ha-ha, okay Zel. See you Saturday." and Midna hung up.

Zelda stared at the phone, thinking. She really didn't want another relationship, but what if Link stirred up past emotions and left her confused? Would that count as love? Zelda doubted it, but she couldn't help being scared at the thought of forgetting about Ike. She still loved him after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sheik was in his bedroom, working on homework. Unable to concentrate, he decided to go look at his mother's yearbooks again. For some reason, he hated Link with a passion; he just couldn't put his finger on why. Usually, he didn't judge people that fast; his mother had taught him not to. It just wasn't right. Still, when he had first seen Link's face, he had wanted to tear the page out of the yearbook.

Sheik thought if he saw it again, he could figure out why. He crept down the stairs, careful not to be heard by his mother, who was talking to Miss Midna. He heard her solemn voice and he knew she was talking about him. Part of him wanted to go eavesdrop, but he knew that doing so, and getting caught, would result in punishment. He didn't like being punished, it made him feel incompetent.

He reached the Living Room and walked over to the book shelf. He reached up and grabbed the white bound yearbook, then settled into the leather loveseat. He opened the book up, glancing at the photos. Finally, he came across the 'Senior Picks' page again. He recognized Miss Marin and Miss Malon, but otherwise no other people, besides his mom of course.

He looked at the picture of Link, and frowned, anger boiling up inside of him. He tried to sort through the feeling, trying to figure out its origin. After a few minutes of intense concentration, he realized why he was angry.

"If Link was Mom's ex," He said, his voice low, "Then that means they broke up. And that means he caused Mom pain. I will _never_ forgive him."

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**Oooh, what a scary statement from Sheik! Just a heads up, next chapter is going to be an experimental chapter, kind of like a new way to do a song-fic. But you'll just have to wait for that. Thanks for reading!**


	4. The Lights of South Faron Province

**VERY IMPORTANT, MUST READ! **

**Okay, so this chapter is a "song fic" to the song **

**"Lights" by Ellie Goulding**

**Now this song-fic is different, in that there are no lyrics in the story itself, and the song has to actually be playing in the background for this chapter to makes sense. The song is important because it is creating an atmosphere to the story. So right now, go to Youtube and type in "Lights Ellie Goulding Lyrics" then click on the video made by "EletusMusic" this is important because this is the version of the song that I used to time this chapter. Everything in this chapter pertains to a part of the song. Now it may not work for everyone, (depending on how fast you read) but it did work for me. It may help if you read to the beat of the song, because that's what I did. Also, instead of playing the song right away, it may help to refresh then get situated on the chapter and start reading when the song starts. This way, you don't start off a few seconds behind the song. Anyway, I'll stop my rant (it is rather long) and please enjoy!**

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Chapter 4: The Lights of South Faron Province

The days leading up to Saturday were the most hectic in all of Zelda's life. She had to pack her and Sheik's bags, clean the house from top to bottom, and make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She was exhausted when Saturday arrived.

Zelda couldn't believe she had been dragged into this, but it was her fault it had happened. She hadn't put her foot down, and Marin created havoc out of her life because of it.

She had loved Link once before, yes, but that was over now, why couldn't she understand that? Why couldn't she learn her boundaries?

Zelda sat at the window seat of the plane, looking out into the distance. She could see nothing but black, but it was better than facing Marin's pestering questions. The entire time she had been asking Zelda what she would do when she saw Link.

She couldn't deal with that now; she had her own feelings and anxieties to sort through. It was an exhausting plane ride.

They rode for a couple hours, the blackness still surrounding the plane when suddenly, Faron came into view. It was beautiful, filling Zelda with hope. They twinkled and danced, as the wind in the city blew them about, creating a scenic whirlwind of light. They lined the city's streets, creating an intricate outline of the circular perimeter.

They reminded Zelda of the Carnival that she had met Ike at. The lights had been similar, but not as grand. Marin had introduced them, and they took a liking to each other right away. They spent the rest of the night together, playing the games and riding the rides. Ike had won her a green stuffed monkey, which she had appropriately named Lime. It had been one of the best times in her life.

Feeling inspired, Zelda put in her Ipod and turned on the song "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. The song was a hopeful inspiration for the future. One that Zelda needed dearly.

She never thought she would be seeing Link again, and now the apprehension began to set in.

Zelda remembered the first date between her and Link. They had gone to the mall because there were no good movies out. They had gone into all the thrift stores the mall had to offer and tried on the ridiculous outfits they sold there. Zelda still had the pictures of Link wearing a chicken costume. He hadn't been happy about that one. Zelda smiled at the thought of his annoyed face when he came out of the dressing room.

The lights began to change colors. Reds flashed creating a feeling of fire burning the ground that was instantly quenched by blues rippling like water in a creek. Then the greens came, blowing in the wind like blades of grass in a meadow, making the city seem like it was shifting left to right, in time with the wind.

The colors of the goddesses splashed on Zelda's face, making her eyes widen. She turned to Sheik and tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed to the window, no words making it out of her mouth. The colors faded back to white, and the Christmas feeling returned, reminding Zelda of her and Sheik's first Christmas together, without Ike. A sad look must've been on her face, because she suddenly felt her son hugging her, and she instantly felt better.

She smiled at the blonde boy and hugged him back, nestling her chin into his hair. She remembered that neither of them got many presents that Christmas, and that Sheik didn't speak a word. He just nodded his thanks to Zelda and went to leave. She remembered feeling hopeless as she felt her family being torn apart. She had looked at the book case and saw her year books. She didn't want things to end the way they did in high school, with mere promises, so she called to Sheik, who turned.

"Sheik, I'm sad." She had said. Her son had asked her why, and she told him,

"Because you are sad and won't speak to me. Help me take down the Christmas lights."

He merely nodded, and together, the lights came down. The beautiful twinkling lights reminding Zelda of stars in the sky, where Ike was resting. She had felt tears slide down her cheeks, when her son hugged her much like he was doing now.

Tears were flowing down his face as well when he said, "I'm sorry Mom."

They had stayed like that for a while, their family life slowly piecing back together again.

Zelda looked out the window one more time as the plane began it's descent into South Faron Province. The lights began to swerve and transform, turning back into normal street lights. Zelda wondered if the display had been some kind of illusion, which made it seem all the more special. An illusion like that could not be duplicated anywhere else.

Marin had stopped pestering her in the front seat awhile ago, and Zelda had come to terms with her feelings. She was ready, she had her family with her, and with family; one could do anything.

* * *

**Alright, I need you to be honest, was the song- fic a flop? This was a big risk for me, seeing that I knew most readers would be too lazy to open Youtube up, or aren't even on a computer or device that can do that. If you did follow the instructions please tell me if it worked. This is a highly experimental song fic, because I hate reading lyrics then reading a story. It breaks the momentum.**** If it's a total flop, I will come back and rewrite the chapter. Anyway, please review!**


	5. Starting Over

**Chapter 5 is here! I remember on my other story that Chapter 5 was my most successful chapter to date, will that be true for this story as well**? **I'll just leave that up to you lovely readers to decide. Happy reading!**

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Chapter 5: Starting Over

After the plane landed, the large party of ten slowly made their way to the conveyer belt to pick up their luggage. Midna, Malon, and Saria had slept the whole plane ride and were incredibly bummed that they had missed the lights of Faron, while that was all Marin could talk about. Romani didn't help at all when she kept showing the sad trio the pictures she had taken. Unfortunately, seeing as Romani was horrible with technology, all the pictures she showed them were blurry smudges of white, blue, red, and green. Meanwhile, Ruto chatted away excitedly with Anju and Kafei about what they were going to in South Faron, she had traveled there plenty of times with family before and had many suggestions.

Zelda watched her lively friends go at it, chuckling all the while. She picked up Sheik's roller suitcase off the conveyer belt, handed it to him, and then picked up her own luggage.

"Well, Zellie," Marin exclaimed, "Are you excited to see your beau?"

Zelda stared at her, "How many times have I told you not to call me 'Zellie'?"

Marin brushed the comment off as if it was nothing, "Answer my question!" she said impatiently.

Zelda rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, I'm excited. Happy?"

"No. You're lying."

"Got that right," Zelda said, winking at her strawberry blonde haired friend. Marin smirked, annoyed that her friend could play such tricks.

However, Zelda didn't notice that she was sending Sheik "food", feeding his hatred towards Link. He thought that every time his mom said that she didn't want to see Link it was because she had experienced pain in separation with him. He still couldn't understand why her so called "friends" were making her do something like this. Had they no hearts?

Marin, anxious to get going, began to walk ahead of the group, out of the terminal. The group followed suit, but at a much slower pace. Eventually, they lost sight of her.

"Now where did she go?" Midna grumbled, trying to search above the crowd on her tip toes.

"She said Link was going to meet us at the bar here in the airport," Ruto said, also scanning the crowd.

"Well, then that's where she's headed," Zelda said plainly, "and us too."

They set off, walking through the airport towards the bar. The airport was so crowded that Zelda had to hold Sheik's hand to make sure they didn't get separated. She smiled uneasily at her son, her nervousness creating butterflies in her stomach at being so "close" to Link.

Finally, they reached the bar. They entered and were greeted by a pretty brown haired waitress.

"How can I help you folks?" She said jovially, a huge white smile spread across her face.

"Um, we're looking for a man named Link Avalon?" Zelda said unsteadily after a few moments of silence. Her friends were making her do all of the talking on purpose! The waitress nodded, showing them the way through the bar to a booth in the back.

There, the group saw Marin and a tall, dirty blonde haired man laughing hysterically. They were standing by the booth, the man's back to the group. Marin glanced at them for a split second then returned to laughing. If Zelda hadn't known better, she would have taken that glance as a warning look from Marin not to interrupt them.

Zelda sighed, placing her left hand on her hip (her other being occupied by her luggage), waiting for them to be done. She looked to her right and saw Midna, Malon, and Romani shaking their heads in disgust at Marin's behavior.

"What are you doing, Zel?" Midna whispered to her, "She's flirting with him!"

Zelda shrugged, not caring. He hadn't noticed the large group's presence yet, so why not let the two have a bit of fun. Suddenly, she felt a force hit her from behind, and she was sent tumbling into the man's back. They fell to the ground, Zelda on top of his backside.

"Owww," She said, rubbing her back. The collision had hurt so much! She gasped, realizing she was still on top of the man. She jumped up, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry!" she said sincerely, helping him up.

"It's alright," he replied pleasantly, rubbing his head in a bashful manner.

Zelda nodded, half smiling. She then turned to Midna, whom she was sure had pushed her, and began yelling at her.

"What was that for?" she exclaimed bitterly, "What gave you the bright idea to push me? You could have been patient, but no! You just had to take matters into your own hands. Can't you just let me make one decision on my own?"

"Woah, woah, Zel! I didn't push you. Romani did," Midna said with a mock look of hurt on her face.

"What! I did not!" Romani exclaimed.

"Whatever," Zelda muttered. Suddenly, she heard laughter. She looked over and saw the man was clutching his stomach, unable to contain his merriment.

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"N-nothing, that was just priceless," he said, wiping his eye from a tear that had sprung forth.

"If I were you I wouldn't be laughing," Zelda grumbled. She was in such a foul mood!

"Ah, definitely not the same Zelda I remember," the man said, a half smile on his face.

"Link?"

"Uh, duh!" he said, extending his hand, "Pleased to re-make your acquaintance Zelda."

"L-likewise," Zelda stammered, shaking his hand. He looked nothing like she remembered. For instance, his hair was longer, long enough to place in a small ponytail, which he had in now. His blue eyes had darkened a bit, not as crystal clear as before. He also had five o'clock shadow that made him look ridiculously handsome.

He was also taller, now more than three heads above Zelda's, with a strong build. Looking at him, he didn't resemble a scientist at all, much less a geologist. An awkward silence occurred between them, and Zelda didn't want their conversation to end there, with just introductions. She had to at least _appear_ happy to see him, right?

"Um, congrats on your award," she said awkwardly, a strange smile on her face.

"Thank you," he replied.

He said nothing else, and they stood awkwardly, staring at each other. Finally, after a sympathetic look, Link turned to Anju,

"So I heard you guys finally tied the knot…"

Zelda exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breathe. This was going to be a long week. She looked at Sheik, and saw he was studying her. He looked away, and examined the wall. What was up with him? Zelda made a mental note to talk to him later.

"Oh, I'm starving!" Saria said, rubbing her stomach. Everyone agreed, and they finally sat down in the booth. Zelda was about to sit next to Link (how her friends silently placed her in these situations was beyond her) when Sheik ran into the booth, shooting his mom a look. With a sigh, she slid in next to her son, and the same waitress from before came over.

"Good evening," she said, still cheerfully, "My name is Ilia and I will be your server this evening. Now why don't we start off with drinks, what can I get you folks?"

Slowly, they went around the group, ordering their drinks. Ilia smiled and walked off to get them, leaving the group in another awkward silence.

"So…" Link began, turning to Zelda, "What have you been up to all these years? I tried to contact you a couple years back, but saw you had changed your name. Who'd you marry?"

Zelda sniffed, "If you must know, I married Ike Royale. I think he was a former acquaintance of yours. He passed away about a year ago. We were married for twelve years."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Link said sincerely, sadness in his eyes.

"Yes, well, if he was your acquaintance, I was sure that you would have known that already."

"I had only met the man a couple of times at a few college conventions. Not enough to seriously call him an acquaintance. But from what I remember, he was a nice man, kind, big-hearted. He deserved you, unlike me."

"Yes, I know." was all Zelda said, a far away look in her eyes. Sheik glared at Link, fed up with his actions. Link glanced at him, his eyebrows raised.

"Is this your son? What's his name?" he asked.

"Yes, I am her son. Ike was my _father_. My name is Sheik." Sheik replied, iciness etched in his voice.

"Sheik!" Zelda exclaimed, "What has gotten into you? You've been moody ever since we got off the plane."

"Its fine Zelda, I can relate. I acted that way to my step-father after my mother remarried. Never liked the idea of Mom replacing my dad, but my step-father earned my respect by teaching me how to fish. I would be worried if he didn't act this way towards me, Zel."

"Don't call her that." Sheik growled.

"Okay, we're leaving mister." Zelda said, humiliated. It was one thing for her to act cold towards Link (she had a reason to), but Sheik was _not_ getting away with it. It made her seem like a terrible mother, brainwashing her child to hate all older men. She grabbed Sheik's collar, getting out of the booth.

"Zelda don't go!" Midna said, standing up, "I'll take him to our hotel room, you stay here."

"I can't do that; Sheik wouldn't like it too much."

"You spoil him too much," Romani interjected, crossing her arms, "Just let Midna take him."

The group nodded their heads, and Zelda looked at Sheik. He was glaring at her, which told her that he really didn't want her to stay. But her friends were right; she did spoil him a bit…

"A-all right," she conceded.

"I hate you," Sheik said, storming out of the bar.

"Sheik!" Zelda called, she turned to the group, "I have to go after him."

"I'll come with you," Link started to say, but Zelda stopped him.

"No, you've done enough already Link. This whole situation is tearing my only family apart."

Zelda ran out of the bar after her son, tears clouding her vision. This stunk. She shouldn't have come, let Marin waste her own money! She was an idiot to think that it could work out in the first place.

The airport hadn't cleared at all, and Zelda found it difficult to search for her son in the crowd.

She raced past terminals, but she still couldn't find him. She felt fear crawl into her throat, latching onto her heart and lungs along the way. Where did Sheik go? When she found him, he was in _so_ much trouble. . .

"Zelda!" she heard a voice behind her call. She turned and saw Link making his way through the crowd. She frowned and turned to continue on her way.

"Wait!" he said, grabbing her shoulder and turning her back around.

"What do you want?" she spat, "You've made the situation bad enough as it is."

"What I wanted to say was that Sheik returned to the bar. He said he was really sorry for running off, but I think he was touched that you ran after him," Link said, unfazed by Zelda's bitter comment.

"Really? Oh, I'm so glad!" Zelda exclaimed, her anger instantly dissipated.

Link nodded, continuing, "Look, Zelda, I'm sorry. I thought when Marin called me and told me that you were coming, that you wanted to start our relationship over, but I see that's not the case. You still love Ike, and I get that, I do. However, there's still a whole week ahead of us. Do you think you could try to be friends with me again? That's all I want, and I'm sure, deep down, that's all you want as well. What do you think?"

Zelda thought for a moment, her and Link being friends? It actually didn't sound that bad. Zelda didn't want another relationship, but a friendship? She had no problem with that.

"I'd liked that." She said, grinning. Link smiled and gave her a hug.

"I'm so glad! Now, shall we go join the party?" he said, holding out his arm.

"Why not?" Zelda said, linking her arm in his. And together, they walked back through the airport terminals and back into the bar.

You can imagine the stunned looks on Zelda's friends' faces when they returned arm in arm, holding a friendly conversation.

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**First step in the right direction Zelda! Haha, anyway. I will not be updating this for another week because I'm going on VACATION! WOoOoOoOoOo! I'm so excited! Also, please remember that this Saturday (June 23rd, 2012) is the black-out date for Fanfiction users! Even if you don't have an account, DO NOT come onto the site! If no one logs in/ enters the site on Saturday, this will tell the creators of this wonderful site not to take some of the many fics off of the site. Interested in what these fics may be? PM me and I'll try to get back to you in time, if I don't you could also visit MusicBee13's profile page to get the info I am talking about! Long Live Imagination! Oh, and Happy Reading!**


	6. Meeting an Old Friend at a New Time

**Hey guys! Oh geez, it's been awhile since I updated but I'm back from my vacation! YAYAYAYAYAY! Not, I miss the beach -.- but anyway, here is chapter 6 of Reminiscence is Calling!**

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Chapter 6: Meeting an Old Friend at a New Time

Link was overjoyed. He had finally met the girl of his dreams. Again. The only problem was that he had to start over. Again.

* * *

The first time he met Zelda she had flipped him off at a gas station for accidentally taking her spot next to the gas pump. He hadn't even seen her. His buddy Marth had though.

"Haha, Link! You have no luck with the ladies, at all. That blonde chica over there just flipped you off! She looks pissed man."

"What! Why?'

"Well, you cut in front of her man! What were you thinking?" Marth whistled, looking out the car window, "If looks could kill..."

Link's face flushed with embarrassment, he hadn't even seen her! He asked Marth where the girl was and he pointed across the lot to a gas pump directly across from them. Sure enough, there was a platinum blonde, fair skinned high school girl. She wore a purple fleece (or from where Link was standing it looked like fleece, but it could've been wool) sweater and dark wash jeans. She had dark John Lennon styled sunglasses on top of her head, and they acted like a headband, holding back her locks. She glared across the lot, directly at Link. Her dark blonde brows were furrowed and her rosy lips were curved in a ferocious frown.

For some reason, Link was turned on.

He laughed nervously, unsure of the emotion that just flashed through him. He had never had a girlfriend before; he was technically the "geek" in school, so he didn't get many candidates. He snuck another look at the girl, and he suddenly recognized who she was.

"Shit Marth!" he exclaimed, "That's Zelda Harkinian! She's friends with Marin Tarin!"

Marth let a string of profanities escape his usually clean lips, and he turned in the passenger seat towards Link, who was standing outside of his green car, pump in hand.

"This is bad. You know what will happen if you don't apologize. Marin will ruin you! You can't afford that Link. Go! Apologize! I'll pump the gas for you."

Link nodded, agreeing completely. He handed the pump to his blue haired friend who had gotten out the car hastily, and began the trip over to Zelda. She saw him coming and she scowled even deeper, turning her back on him in an indignant huff.

"H-hey." Link began weakly, shoving his hands in his pockets. No reaction, Zelda kept staring at the Camel poster on the blue gas pump station. Rude, much?

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry I cut you off. I didn't see you when I pulled in, so, uh, sorry?"

He saw blonde flash in his eyes and suddenly he felt his left cheek was on fire. She had slapped him!

"Look," Zelda said icily, "I'll accept your apology, but my friend won't. I know who you are Avalon, and so does Marin."

Link paled, "Wait!" he squealed like a little girl, "Don't do that! Look, I really am sorry! If it's any consolation, I'll, uh, pay for your gas."

She raised her dark blonde eyebrows; "You know what that does right?" she began in a low tone, much calmer this time. "It sets you up for bullying."

"I don't care. If it saves my career, I really don't care."

"Career?" She asked, her frown melting away from her face. Now she just had this pensive look on her face, Link was getting somewhere!

"Yeah, I want to get into South Faron University for Geology. I want to become a professor. I know if Marin gets angry with me, she'll destroy my future."

Zelda frowned again, but out of sadness this time, "I told Marin everyone was going to hate her forever if she kept the 'bad-girl' image up. Sorry I slapped you, I got carried away. Also, you don't have to pay for my gas, seeing as I did already. You're not a bad dude, Link, you have good ethics. Things will go well for you, I can feel it." and she finally smiled at him, and Link felt like he was going to melt.

In a daze, he thanked her for her compliments and turned back to his car. There, Marth was waiting in the passenger seat, giving him a thumbs-up as he trekked back. He slid into the driver seat and turned on the ignition. He then slowly drove out of the station, passing Zelda on the way out. She waved, and, seeing as Link was still in a daze (why did Marth even let him drive?), Marth waved back for him.

Once on the highway, Marth popped the question, "So what happened?"

Link slowly turned to him, his hands gripped firmly on the wheel, and a huge, dopey, grin on his face, "I fell in love."

After that Zelda would smile at Link whenever she passed him in the hallway at school, and Link made sure he sat near her in study hall, which was a mix of all grades.

Sadly, all of Zelda's friends were in their study hall as well, so they didn't talk much. When they did, it was just Zelda asking him, a junior, a question about some sophomore paper. Link tried his best though, and sometimes he felt like he was getting somewhere. At least Marin accepted him, which was important.

Later that same school year, the Goddesses dance came along. The dance was the biggest social event of the year. Every student who was anybody got a date. Link had even gotten a date the year before (his sophomore year) with some weird girl named Agitha. All Agitha could talk about the entire time was bugs. Bugs this, bugs that. But that's beside the point, this year; Link wanted someone he actually liked to be his date. So he tried to summon the courage to ask Zelda.

It wasn't that hard really, just a few words. However, Link kept getting nervous and tongue tied when he tried to ask. He got his break though one day in study hall, a few weeks before the dance, where Link overheard Zelda's group of friends talking about their dates.

Apparently, Midna was going with Dark, but that was a definite. The two were the longest lasting couple in the school to date, so no one was surprised. Marin was going with Richard, Saria with Mido, Anju and Kafei, Malon with Ingo, and Ruto and Mikau. Zelda didn't have a date yet, a fact that Marin criticized deeply.

"Why don't you have a date yet!" She asked pointedly, "I thought one of the twins asked you?"

"Yeah, but I turned him down."

"Why?"

"He's annoying, and such a scaredy cat."

At that moment, Marin glanced over to Link, who had found himself staring at Zelda. He flushed a deep red and looked away. He was such a dork around her and her friends! He was usually laid-back, cool, and collected…

He became aware of eyes on his back and he turned around in his seat to look at the group again.

"Well?" Marin asked hastily.

"Well what?" Link asked, confused.

"Will you take Zelda to the Goddesses dance?" She exclaimed, as if it was obvious.

Link was at a loss for words. He looked at Zelda, who blushed slightly and looked away. She was obviously embarrassed, but Link was going to be honest.

"Of course!" He exclaimed happily, "If she'll let me."

He smiled at her, and she finally met his gaze, and smiled back.

_Score! Wait till I tell Marth!_ Link thought, and after that Mr. Gaebora told their study hall to quiet down.

The weeks leading up to the dance were so aggravating. Link hated getting tailored for a suit, but he would do it for Zelda. He wouldn't let her down this time.

He let her down.

Somehow, there was a miscommunication in the time in which he was supposed to pick Zelda up. So they arrived at the dance an hour late. Link apologized profusely, but Zelda only gave him that curt "it's fine." response. He felt terrible.

The night slowly started to get better, and Zelda actually kept Link around to dance with her. Link wasn't as incompetent as he thought when he taught Zelda how to boogie. It was fun. Then a slow song came on, and Link had no idea what to do. He was about to lead Zelda off the dance floor when she stopped him.

"What are you doing?" She asked, swishing her multicolored party dress in her hands.

"Uh, we're sitting down right?"

"No silly! Come here."

She pulled him into dancing position and they slowly danced in a circle. At first, Zelda couldn't look Link in the eye, but after a few conversation attempts gone wrong, she finally did.

"You _are_ strange aren't you?" Zelda laughed amiably, "But I think that's what makes you so interesting. I guess I need to tell you something Link."

"What?"

"I-"

"I like you!" Link blurted. He hadn't meant to interrupt her, it just happened. She stared at him, blinking her eyes in shock.

"Really? You do?"

"Yes." Link gulped. He had expected her to yell at him for cutting her off, and he braced himself as she spoke again.

"I like you to." She said, in whisper barely loud enough for Link to hear.

What? Did he hear right? Did she just respond to his rash confession? He couldn't believe it, and he felt the room spinning. As the song came to an end, the two high schoolers separated and made their way back to their tables. Link had to grip Zelda's arm the entire way back, since his legs became Jell-O. He, the geek, had just "scored" one of the most popular girls in school. Even if she was a year below him. It was like one of those cliché story lines on the Disney Channel movies, but it was _real._

The rest of the night was a blur filled with a sit down buffet dinner, more dancing, and a full out rap battle between Richard and Mido, a dance competition between Gigi and Agitha (Gigi won. Obviously) and finally dessert came along.

Link stood up to go get Zelda a slice of Lon Lon Milk cheesecake and an éclair from Wheaton and Pita. How the school afforded to get catering from such expensive catering services was beyond him. He stood in the back of the line and he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Cole, a rich boy who was always seen as a jerk. No one said this in front of Cole but, he looked like a leprechaun most of the time. He wore a green vest with a white undershirt, black dress pants, and a green top hat to cover his flaming red hair. Cole and Link never conversed before, but Link was sure Cole knew who he was.

"Oy, you!" Cole said gruffly, tapping Link's shoulder again.

"Um, yes?" asked Link, raising his eyebrows. What did this jerk want with him?

"I saw you and Zelda together, yes?"

"Y-yes."

"Stay away from her. That broad is mine. She doesn't know it yet, but she's going to end up in bed with me." Cole grinned evilly, a maniacal and dangerous look flashing through his face. By this time, Link and Cole were in front of the dessert table. When Link heard this harassment Cole made toward Zelda, anger flashed through his body. How dare he say such things about her.

Something happened in Link, which transferred to his fist, which landed square on Cole's nose.

Cole stumbled back, holding his now bleeding nose, shrieking, "He broke my nose! That bastard broke my nose!"

The entire staff and student body turned to Cole, who stopped shrieking to glare at Link. He dropped his hands off his nose and shook off the blood on them. Cole's nose was crooked and blood was all over his face. When he was satisfied with the amount of blood off of his hands, he turned to walk out, but stopped and, giving a blood-curdling battle cry, ran at full speed towards Link and tackled him. They landed on the dessert table, squishing all of the cheesecake, cookies, brownies, churros, éclairs, and other confections under the weight of two high school boys. Link tried to fend off the onslaught of punches but he was at a disadvantage being underneath Cole. So he held his hands up to protect his face and waited until Cole had to come out of his angry stupor to breath. A few minutes later, Cole paused, his breathe haggard.

Link took this opportunity to kick his legs up, knocking Cole over to the side. Link jumped off the table and turned back to Cole. Link wiped the sweat off his brow and gave the tradition "come at me" finger wave. Cole growled and jumped at him. This time, Link was ready and began to fend off the series of punches and kicks being thrown at him. Cole was getting tired; he obviously wasn't used to fighting someone who could actually hold his own in a fight. Cole stopped for a second to breathe and Link proceeded to take the offensive. He then uppercut into Cole's precious face and then kicked him in the stomach. Cole flew back into the dessert table, hitting his back hard into the table. Finally, teachers seemed to snap out of their trance and ran in between the two boys, shouting at them to stop and holding them back from each other.

"Take it back!" Link screamed at Cole, trying to run at him, but being held back by the teacher's arms, "Take back what you said about Zelda! She would never in her right mind go out with you!"

Cole just glared, "Oh yeah?" He screamed back, "What makes you so sure pretty boy!"

"Because-" Link turned to stare at Zelda, who was standing at their table, her eyes wide in shock, "We're going out!" he finished finally. Cole's eyes widened and the room got quiet. Some people's mouths hung open and others turned to glance at Zelda, who flushed a deep red and ran out of the party room. Link cursed under his breath, and, before the teachers could stop him, ran after her, the crowd dispersing to let him through.

He ran out into the cool, spring air and found Zelda sitting on a stone wall, a few paces from the school building. Her back was to him as Link slowly began his approach to her.

"Don't come closer." She called to him, still not turning.

"Okay." He said. He didn't know what else to say anyway.

"Why?" She asked him, "Why did you punch Cole?"

Link hesitated, he wasn't sure if he should tell her, "H-he said some vulgar things about you."

"Some? I was watching you two converse, he said two things to you. Tell me the truth."

"Fine. He said for me to stay away from you because you were his and that you don't know it yet, but he's going to get you in bed with him."

Zelda didn't speak for what seemed like an eternity, all Link heard was her steady breathing which was in sync with his. Finally, she spoke.

"Good."

"What?" Link asked, dumbfounded.

"I said good."

"What does that mean?"

She spun around on the wall to face Link. Tear stains were evident on her cheeks, and Link's insides crumbled in on themselves knowing that he had caused those tears. She sniffed, and then played with her dress.

"It means, it's good you punched him." A small smile appeared on her face, "I would've done the same thing if someone said something like that about you."

Link walked towards her and looked up at her violet eyes, "Really?"

"Yes."

Link grinned, "That makes me happy. Uh, about the dating thing, I can, uh say we never were."

"But that would be lying."

"Huh?"

"You're so dense Link! I'm accepting your request to date me. You are now my boyfriend and I am your girlfriend. A sophomore dating a junior. Got it?"

Link grinned, raising his eyebrows mischievously, "Oh really? Well, I guess I have to break up with Agitha now."

Zelda laughed, picking up on the joke. Link held his hand out to help Zelda down from the wall, and she jumped down. They began to walk back into the school building, holding hands. Link knew he was going to be in big trouble, but he didn't want to think of that now, all he knew was he would punch Cole in the face every time if it meant he would get to date Zelda. He wouldn't change that decision.

A few days later they had their first "official" date at the nearby soda shop. Link had left that with whipped cream on his nose and a smile on his face.

* * *

Link smiled reflecting on the memory as he waited in a bar off of the main road in South Faron. He downed his Great Fairy Rum on the Rocks when he saw Zelda enter. She wore a black shirt with a blue printed skirt. She smiled when she saw him and joined him at the booth.

"Hey." she said, ordering a glass of wine.

"Hey, guess what I was thinking about."

"What?" She asked, thanking the bartender for her drink, and sipping it casually.

"How we first met and started going out."

"Really?" she said, drawing it out, "Well you wouldn't guess what I brought with me."

"What?"

"All of my yearbooks and other pictures."

Link smiled, watching as the blonde pulled all of the books out of her large black purse. There were four: A purple yearbook, a green one, a white one, and a silver one. Then she brought out a manila folder filled to the brim with black and white pictures. Link glanced through the latter first.

"You kept all of these?" he asked, astonished.

"Yeah." she smiled, "I was going to throw them out but Ike told me not to."

"Oh." was all Link said as he pulled out a photo of Link and Zelda on the lawn of her house, dressed for the Goddesses Dance the first year they went together. He smirked, and pulled out another one. This depicted Link in a t-shirt, most likely white, and jeans standing next to a car with Zelda in a long dress sitting on the hood. That was Link's Green Machine, as the two liked to call it. He smiled and showed the picture to Zelda, who half-smiled. She was still holding back. She was still not ready for another relationship, a fact that humbled Link into being more careful around her.

"I'm glad you brought these." Link said, handing her back the envelope.

"Yeah." she said, the air getting awkward.

"I have a question." Link asked hastily.

"Yes?" she asked, downing the rest of her wine.

"Why does Sheik glare at me so much?"

"When did he glare at you?"

"Yesterday at the bar at the airport. That's all he did. Didn't you notice?"

"No."

"Hey, I thought we were friends now, why are you still distancing yourself from me?"

Zelda frowned sadly, "I don't know Link, I honestly don't. My head accepted your request but my heart didn't. I am still subconsciously putting a barrier up around me when I am near you. I don't know how to undo it either."

Link smiled at her, "Well, why don't start with talking about Sheik? And please be honest with me. You were always so good at being honest."

"Yeah." She said, swirling her finger along the rim of her glass.

"So, can you tell me why he was glaring at me? I have an idea but, I figured you weren't the type to bad-mouth an ex, no matter how much you would want to."

She cocked a brow, "Oh really? Well, you surmised correctly, Sheik came upon the feeling of hate he feels towards you on his own. I even defended you when he said he hated you."

"He said that?"

"Yeah, he saw our picture in the Senior Picks." she turned in the white yearbook to the page, "and he must have felt you threatened my relationship with Ike. I don't know why, I told him me and Ike had a spotless relationship. Anyway, he was the one with me against coming here."

"You didn't want to come? But Marin said-"

"Marin lied. It was the only way for her to actually get me to come, if you were already expecting me. She's tricky, that girl."

"By the way, is she married?"

"Yeah."

"Really? Then why was she flirting with me?"

"Because she's Marin. She was trying to show me what I was supposed to do when I talked to you. She was getting too much fun out of it though, that's why Midna was so disgusted with her that she shoved me into you."

"Well, where is her husband? I noticed Kafei was here, but no other guy."

"They didn't want to come. Anju and Kafei are sort of newly married, you know, so they're inseparable.

"Oh, I see. Do you guys always…"

"Always what?"

"Always communicate through gestures? I mean you guys hardly spoke after we found Sheik, but the conversation kept continuing."

"Yeah, we do that a lot. Usually it weirds people out, but obviously not Midna's, Marin's, Anju's, and Romani's husbands." Zelda laughed gaily. Link was happy she was finally getting comfortable. The rest of the night, they talked about memories and what the large group was planning to do in South Faron.

"Ruto said we absolutely had to see the Zoo. So that's what we're doing tomorrow, care to join us?" Zelda asked, swishing her third glass of wine in its glass.

"Definitely. Oh, I recommend you get a cab home tonight."

"That's what I rode here. How about you?"

"Same, show we ride the same one?"

She laughed, "You live in the opposite direction!'

"Oh yeah."

He chuckled and watched Zelda stand to gather her things. He helped her put all of her yearbooks and pictures in her big shoulder bag. He stood to see her go, and suddenly something happened. She turned to him, a slightly drunk look on her face, and hugged him good bye.

"See you tomorrow." She whispered in his ear, and turned to leave. After she was gone, Link collapsed in his seat and asked for the bill from the bartender.

He had to get out of there, he had a date to get ready for. A date at the Zoo.

* * *

**Were you all surprised that Marin really isn't a backstabbing biotch? Well, for those of you thought that was her purpose in this story, I am glad to say NOPE! haha, sorry for leading you on. *laughs evilly* *start rant*Anyway, how was the fight scene between Link and Cole? I thought it was pretty good... although the fight ended too soon for Link to go all ninja on the dude. I'm wondering if I made Link to weak sounding? That will change with more memories of course, but please don't be like "LINK IS TOO WEAK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU" or something like that, because you will look very dumb in my eyes. Okay? *end rant***


	7. Mr Bunny Says Halloo and G' Bye

**So I was very sad when I saw that NO ONE reviewed the last chapter. Was Link really that weak? I guess I'm gonna have to change that chapter, because it obviously failed. But anyway, please enjoy this chapter to its fullest potential!**

**Disclaimer: Haven't done this in a while... so I don't own the Legend Of Zelda or any of the characters. Nor do I own Honey Nut Cheerios. That is all.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Mr. Bunny says Halloo and then G' Bye

Zelda didn't know what came over her to drink so much wine in Link's presence the night before. Was she really that nervous to be around him alone? Sheik had opposed her going to see him quite verbally of course, and it was all she could do not to have him tag along without her knowing. That is, locking him in his bedroom. She, of course, felt like a terrible mom for doing so, but Sheik needed to learn that he was not to get away with such terrible behavior. It really was not like him.

Zelda awoke with a groan, a slight headache surfacing as she sat up in the plush white hotel bed. She yawned and looked around the room, it was nothing special really. A brown leather chair sat next to a desk with a laptop compatible outlet next to it, left of the queen sized bed, and to the right was a bathroom complete with a separate shower and bath, and two sinks. Next to the bathroom doorway was a mahogany dresser that was to hold all of Zelda's clothing sitting atop the fluffy yellow carpet.

She yawned again, throwing back the white comforter and stepped out of bed. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the walk-in shower, letting the water heat up. That was the nice thing about a hotel, not needing to worry about using up all the hot water. Zelda walked out of the bathroom towards her purse and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. She took out a tablet, walked back into the bathroom, placed it in her mouth and flushed it down with water from the sink.

"That'll take care of my headache." she said to herself. Ready to take her shower, she stepped into the warm water.

Twenty minutes later, she was done. She stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself. Walking to the mahogany dresser, she picked out a light blue cotton sweater and dark wash pants. Putting them on, she then put on a golden ringed necklace with matching earrings. Satisfied with her outfit, she dried her hair and walked to the kitchen to start breakfast.

Oddly, while all of this was occurring, Zelda had a constant nagging at the back of her mind. She was forgetting something, but didn't know what. When she entered the state-of the art kitchen (really, this hotel has extremely expensive tastes), she was surprised to see Sheik was already up. He glowered at her when he saw her walk in, and then returned to his bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios™.

"Good morning Sheik!" Zelda said cheerily, tussling the blonde boy's hair. He grumbled a response, obviously still peeved with his punishment from the night before.

"Ready for the Zoo today?" she asked, ignoring his mood. He needed to cheer up, and if there was anybody who could do that, it was Zelda.

Sheik turned to look at her, "Yeah. Is Link coming?"

Zelda froze,

_That's what I was forgetting! Link is coming to the Zoo with us. Oh, sweet Farore help me!_

"Yes." She said simply, turning her back on her son to make some oatmeal for herself. She opened a few cupboards, searching for the big red box.

"Why?" he asked, his voice rising. Zelda frowned and slammed the third cupboard shut, still having not found her oatmeal. She turned to Sheik and sat down next to him, staring intently into his eyes. The boy couldn't hold her gaze and looked away.

"Sheik," Zelda said gently, taking her son's hand, "you need to let this anger you feel towards Link go. I am here remaking his acquaintance, but nothing more. Can't you try to see things my way?"

"I thought I was." he sniffed, turning back to look at her, "But I guess I was wrong."

Zelda sighed and stood back up, "Honestly Sheik, I have no idea where that anger is coming from. Maybe today at the Zoo you'll get to know Link better, and not judge him so harshly. He was sad that you were angry with him you know."

"I'll bet he was." Sheik grumbled, eating another spoonful of the honey cheerios. Finally, Zelda found the oatmeal and set to make her own breakfast.

* * *

A few hours later, it was time to meet the gang to head to the Zoo.

"You ready Sheik?" Zelda called from her bedroom, putting on black flats and her hair into a messy bun. She heard Sheik give a grumbled reply and smiled to herself.

_That boy is not going down without a fight._ Zelda chided, shaking her head. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the bedroom. There, Sheik stood in a red T-shirt and baggy khaki pants with black and white sneakers. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and Zelda led him out of the hotel room, her hand lying casually around his shoulders.

They made their way to the elevator and were happy to Marin, Midna, and Saria there as well.

"Good morning!" Marin and Saria chirped enthusiastically. Midna just nodded, she wasn't much of a morning person when traveling, because she always stayed up way too late. Zelda smiled back, feeling quite content with how the morning was going. Of course, with such a good start, there was bound to be a crash somewhere in the day.

"Where are Ms. Ruto, Romani, Malon, and Mr and Mrs. Kafei?" Sheik asked politely.

"Oh, they're already down in the lobby waiting. They decided to try the Hotel's breakfast. I wonder how it was."

Inside the elevator, Zelda couldn't help thinking that something was off. Everyone, except Midna and Sheik, was just too… _cheery._ It was strange, and Zelda wasn't sure how to describe. No one could be _this _happy to go to the Zoo, and Zelda was finding she was becoming less and less content and more and more weirded out. She decided to just let it slide, maybe the fact that they were on vacation finally reached everyone and they were just relaxed. Who knew?

They reached the lobby, and, sure enough, there was the rest of the gang looking well rested and replenished. They talked for a few minutes before Zelda became aware of someone tugging on her sleeve. She looked down and saw Sheik, looking quite annoyed.

"Mom, when are we actually going to the Zoo?" He asked.

"Right now!" Romani butted in, and gestured out the glass double doors to three yellow taxi shuttles parked outside the building.

"Let's go!" Malon sang and dragged Midna out the door with her. Sheik chuckled and followed them out, grabbing Zelda's hand taking her with him. She smiled to herself, happy that her son bounced back from his moodiness so quickly.

"_That's one person happy," _Zelda thought, "_Now to make Midna cheery too."  
_

Midna, Marin, Sheik, and Zelda slid into one of the Taxi shuttles and shut the door. The taxi started and began driving away from the Hotel and headed towards the Zoo, the driver said it was going to be twenty minutes at the most. Zelda smiled and thanked him, then turned to join the conversation with her friends and son.

"So what are we going to see first?" Marin said happily, looking through a brochure she had picked up at Hotel's Tourist Center.

"I want to see the lions, maybe the can stun you to silence." Midna grumbled.

"Oh don't be like that, Midna," Marin said, unaffected by Midna's comment, "How about you Sheik?"

"I want to see the Zebras."

"Ooooh! Good choice!"

Zelda chuckled, "Well that's one exhibit down. We should make sure we see the birds too. I heard they let the peacocks and Cuccos roam freely."

Sheik nodded, "Yep, and they even breed the rare blue Cuccos there! We have to check them out too. Oh, and the red pandas too."

Marin nodded, "We have lots to see, I agree. Let's see if we can hit all of the habitats. Hey Zellie, er I mean Zelda, is Link coming along?" she flashed one of her signature grins.

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Yes. He said he'd meet us there."

"Oh good! The Zoo is a good first date."

"Marin." Zelda warned.

"Right, right. Sorry." She apologized in a very unconvincing tone.

* * *

The rest of the ride Marin and Sheik chatted amiably about which exhibits they should see first, developing a whole layout of the day by the time the taxi pulled up to the entrance. Midna thanked the driver and paid for the service, while the other three hopped out of the shuttle. They had to wait a few minutes before everyone else arrived, so Midna went off to get some coffee, and Zelda joined her.

"So why'd you stay up so late?" She asked, standing in line with Midna.

"If you must know, I was looking up things to do for the rest of the week. I figured, even if you're not here to meet Link for romantic reasons, that you would still go out and see him alone. Seeing as you two had your own special memories between each other." she smirked as the shuffled towards the front of the line. Zelda blushed lightly, agreeing with her logic.

"Yes, well, what were some of the things that you came up with? Maybe I'll join you." She said quietly.

"I found a skydiving thing. It looked cool, but I don't think the nutso over there would agree to do something so dangerous." Midna gestured with her thumb over towards Marin, who was jumping up and down excitedly while looking at the Zoo map.

"It _is _dangerous," Zelda began, "but I think I would allow Sheik to do it. After he had the adequate amount of lessons of course."

"There she is, Miss Mother of All." Midna joked, stepping forward to buy her coffee, "Black Grande, two sugars please." she said, and took the steaming dark brown liquid. She stepped back, taking a sip.

"If you had a kid, even you would be protective Middie." Zelda teased back, and Midna finally cracked a smile. Mission Accomplished.

"Oh, look. Fairy boy is coming." Midna said between sips, gesturing with her free hand to the Zoo parking lot. Link was walking toward them wearing a brown V-neck and black jeans. His long dirty blonde hair was tied back in another loose pony-tail.

"Hello Marin, hello Sheik." he greeted to the two, nodding his head to them.

"Hellooo, Link." Marin giggled, "Zelda's over there." she pointed towards the blonde, who waved awkwardly. He nodded and made his way over.

"Good morning." he said affably, "How are you two?"

Midna looked over her coffee and pointed to it, "Getting my daily caffeination, otherwise I would be crappy." she smirked.

"I'm good." Zelda said simply, "I talked to Sheik about his anger. Today, Mr. Link, I would like you to walk around the Zoo with my son."

Link did a double take, "He agreed to that?" he asked, clearly surprised.

"No. I came up with that just now. Spontaneous generation into my brain, I suppose."

Link laughed, a deep throaty laugh, "I see. You haven't changed much Zelda, no matter how much you tell me you have."

Zelda smirked, "And you haven't had a haircut since I last saw you. Seriously, is work so time consuming that you have to get rid of some grooming necessities?"

Link only smirked and went to tell Sheik the news. Zelda only shrugged and turned to Midna.

"Do you think that was a good idea?"

"No."

When Sheik heard the news that he was going to spend the day with Link, it seemed as if the air might explode from all the anger suddenly poured into it.

"_I refuse_." He said with his teeth gritted.

"Sheik." Zelda said in a low tone, "You better do this or we are going home right now. Link is not a bad person; in fact he is now a friend. I expect you to be polite and courteous to him."

"No."

"Sheik Ike Royale!" She exclaimed bitterly, "What has gotten into you?"

"I don't want you to forget Dad, that's all."

Zelda was surprised by his answer, and glanced around at the crowd that was forming around them. This turning into an intimate conversation between Mother and Son, Zelda took Sheik wrist and walked him to a secluded corner.

"Now what's this about me forgetting Dad?" She said, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's just been 'Link this' and 'Link that' Mom. I'm afraid you are going to forget about Dad. You never talk about him anymore."

Zelda's scowled softened into a sympathetic smile, "Sheik, honey. I could never ever forget your father, and no one can replace him. You keep thinking of Mr. Link as a replacement. You need to stop that, he is nothing of the sort. He is sort of… like a pet. A new addition to the family, I suppose."

Sheik cracked a smile, "Okay. If Link is a pet, what kind of pet is he?"

Zelda thought for a moment, "How about a bunny? Now are you gonna do this favor for me and give Link a second chance? You never know, you might like him. I know I did, and still do, just not in the same way."

Sheik nodded, and, taking his mom's hand, they walked back and joined the group.

"It's okay now, everyone." Zelda announced, "Sheik is being reasonable again."

Sheik just rolled his eyes and walked over to Link, Zelda still in tow.

"I shall be joining you two on your Zoo exploration," He said, looking up into Link's eyes unblinking, "Mr. Bunny."

"What?" he asked, looking at Zelda, who laughed uneasily.

"Uhhh. Let's go to the Zebras!" She said, changing the topic quick, and marched forward. Sheik and Link looked at each other and followed after her.

* * *

"Oh, they're so beautiful!" Zelda breathed looking at the peacock's large fan spread before. A female was nearby as well, and was just as pretty. They had been on the way to the Zebras, but Zelda stopped when she saw the magnificent birds. She had pulled out her camera and was filming the peacock couple. The male spread out his fan then, after a few seconds, put it back again. The blues, greens, blacks, and gold on the feathers amazed Zelda, and she particularly like how each feather had the shape of an eye at it's tip. It kind of reminded her of the symbol for the Sheikah, which was an eye with a teardrop below it.

Sheik tapped her shoulder, and pointed at an oncoming zoo keeper. The peacocks saw him as well and began to follow him, a begging look in their eyes. The zookeeper laughed and pulled a peanut out of his pocket. He broke the shell and dropped the four nuts to the ground, where the majestic birds dove hungrily after them.

"Aw, how cute." Link smirked, "Shall we continue on to the Zebras?"

Zelda and Sheik nodded, and Zelda stood to follow. Somehow they had lost the gang back by the hippos (although Zelda doubted that it was by accident). Sheik looked considerably happier now that he looked at Link like a bunny, and Zelda was happy that her son had finally stopped being so angry. Ike would've been proud.

And Link. What was Zelda going to do with him? Now that he knew where she lived, he would call her every now and then. Nothing creepy, but it's not like Zelda could just shut him out. Also, no matter how much he told her that he wasn't expecting them to get back together, she knew he wanted to. The question was, would she let him? She had initially said no, but now she wasn't so sure. Sheik had stopped hating him, well as far as she could tell he did, and Link was still his charming and funny self.

Zelda shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about those things now. She was at the Zoo, with her son. She was going to enjoy herself.

As soon as she made that resolution, it wasn't hard to follow through with it. The Zoo was spectacular. It was state of the art, and all of the animals looked happy. None of them seemed to be mistreated and all looked healthy. The Zoo was reasonably priced as well, as reasonably priced as a Zoo can get of course. They also had a small amphitheater where they had daily animal shows, from Monkey tricks, to Gator "wrangling", Bird talks, and a mammal spectacular.

They made their way to the Zebras, which were in a large grassy meadow surrounded by fences, with a small creek bubbling through the middle. Along with the Zebras, there were the Ostriches, Okapis, Impalas, and the Giraffes. They all looked very happy to be able to stretch their legs as much as they wanted to. The Zebras dashed across the fence line, racing each other. The giraffes reached up to some of their favorite trees and ate at the leaves. It was like looking at the African Safari.

In the distance, Zelda heard a roar. She nudged Sheik, "Looks like the lions up," She looked at Link, grinning, "Shall we go check him out?"

Link and Sheik grinned as well, "Sure!" they said in unison. They paused and looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Okay, then!" Zelda laughed and led the way down the asphalt path.

Once at the Lion's Den, they were surprised to see it wasn't fenced off like the rest. Instead, the onlookers were on a ledge surrounding the den with a wall separating them from the large feline. To see the lion you had to look down over the ledge. To Zelda, it didn't seem very safe, even if there were signs saying not to lean on the walls in big bold letters.

She took her camera out and turned it on. Suddenly she heard a scream. Whipping her head up to see what the commotion was about, she was stunned to see a small child had fallen off the wall and into the den seven feet below. The child landed with a sickening thud, and Zelda's heart went into her throat. She was unable to speak.

"Holy Din!" Link exclaimed, leaning over the ledge. The lion had yet to notice the child, but it wouldn't be long until it did. Zookeepers were being notified, and Zelda saw they were standing in a group discussing a course of action.

Instinctively, Zelda gripped Link's arm, "Somebody do something!" she whispered.

The child was still lying at the bottom of the den, the Lion still pacing around on the opposite side. Suddenly, Link pulled free from Zelda's grasped and ran around to the other side of the den. He stopped at the crying mother and consoled her briefly, before he did the unspeakable.

He jumped into the den.

"No!" Zelda screamed, leaning over the edge.

"Mom, get back." Sheik said, somehow calmly, and pulled her away. Zelda fell to her knees in shock, and Sheik hugged her defensively.

"Its okay, Mr. Bunny will fine." He whispered in her ear. Zelda merely nodded. People began exclaiming again, and Zelda forced herself off the ground to look into the den.

The Lion had noticed Link when he jumped into the den, and was staring him down a few feet away from him as Link gripped the unconscious child in his arms.

* * *

**Oh NO! Link is going to be eaten by a hungry lion! Oh the horror! Well, you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out what happens. Tee hee.**

**I won't update tomorrow, but I will post a 4th of July One-shot either tomorrow or the day after, whenever I have time. So please look forward to it!**

**The doctor's have diagnosed me with a rare deadly disease called Reviewititis. It it brought about by lack of reviews, so please help cure me by reviewing!**


	8. Hospital Nurses are Stupid

**Here is chapter 8! Please enjoy! Oh and I'm gonna start these now:**

**Special thanks to: Zelda Rubix, Guest, Guest, an x**

**~Thanks so much for your kind reviews!~**

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Chapter 8: Hospital Nurses are Stupid

No one dared to speak, for fear of scaring the lion into attacking the two stragglers in its den. Zelda held her breathe as she watched the lion's tail flick back and forth behind it, as if contemplating its strike. Link sat in the far corner of the den, clutching the unconscious child and staring the lion down.

Suddenly, the lion roared, opening its mouth wide, showing the sharp, dagger-like maws the beast had. Link blinked in surprise, but otherwise kept his calm façade. The lion stared at him again, its eye twitching as if to show its annoyance. It began to pace back and forth in front of Link, sizing him up and daring him to move. Zelda took Sheik's arm, her face paling. Sheik saw this, and his face broke into a scowl, concentrating hard on the situation, his expression unreadable.

The zoo keepers had broke their huddle and were moving into position, waiting for the opportune moment to get the two unlucky hylians out of the den. A keeper with a large afro passed by, and Zelda let go of Sheik's arm and grabbed onto his.

"Please tell me both of them will be alright!" She whispered urgently, her eyes pleading.

"Ma'am, we're trying our best to get the child and your husband out safe and sound. Now please step aside and let us do our work."

Zelda nodded, not even bothering to correct the zoo keeper, as she dislodged her arm and allowed him to walk swiftly passed. He walked to the end of the pathway, where another keeper was waiting, and whispered urgently into his ear.

Sheik began to quickly assess the situation and the surrounding area. He saw a large tree inside of the lion's den; it was tall and the color of chocolate, its green leaves dripping with large brown nuts. The limbs of the tree draped over the side of the railing, dripping a lot of its bounty onto the walkway below. Sheik recognized those nuts, and an idea began to form in his mind. The keepers were too slow, and by the time they acted Link and that child could already be dead…

Zelda was at a loss to do. She felt helpless, and in reality, she was. She could do nothing to ensure Link's safety or the safety of the child, and she hated it. She never liked to be helpless or need to trust that others will get the job done instead of her. She liked to take things into her own hands. And right now, she felt like the situation had been forcefully ripped out of them, taking her hands with it, and leaving behind only bloody stubs on her arms. She felt hot tears come to her eyes, and she blinked, trying desperately to get them to leave.

Sheik saw his mom's tears, and that gave him enough incentive to follow through with the plan. Without saying a word, he ran down the walkway towards the tree located on the other side of the den. He reached the tree and began to pick up as many nuts as he could.

"Sheik!" Zelda screamed, "Sheik stop!" She felt her world being torn from her as she watched her one and only son run over to where Link was. She thought he was going to jump into the den after them. Everyone turned to look at her, and then back at the den. Her scream had startled the lion, and it roared, lunging into the huddled duo, diving in for the kill. She heard Link cry out in pain…

Zelda was suddenly blinded by a bright white light. She heard shouting from the zoo keepers, and a moaning mother as she sobbed, she also heard Sheik shouting instructions. But to whom? When the blinding light subsided, Zelda had to blink a few times before the world came back into focus. Frightened, she threw herself at the guard rail and looked frantically to where she had last seen Link and the child.

They weren't there. Instead, the lion was lying on its side, a large dart with a bright pink puffball at the end sticking out of its side, and it was breathing languorously. Zelda's eyes darted around the den, looking for the missing pair. She found them by the den's gate where the keepers leave the lion's food, Link was handing the child over to the sobbing mother, who thanked him profusely in between sobs. He just shook his head, and, wincing, placed his hand over his left arm. Zoo keepers were standing near him, radioing for first aid.

He was okay. Link was fine, and so was the child. The lion hadn't killed them.

In disbelief, Zelda sank to her knees, clutching her face, her eyes and mouth wide with shock. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned her head slowly to see Sheik smiling down at her.

"You okay mom?" he asked, grinning, "Mr. Bunny's fine now, no need to worry."

Zelda nodded slowly, still in a state of shock, "W-what happened?" she asked in a daze.

"I saved Mr. Bunny." Sheik said proudly, puffing out his little 12 year old chest.

Zelda stared at him in wonder; she really needed to snap out of her daze, "You did what now?"

Sheik rolled his eyes, and helped his mother stand on her own two feet, "Listen the first time, geez. I said I saved Mr. Bunny. I saw a Deku Nut tree near where he was huddling and I ran over to it. I grabbed a bunch of the nuts and threw them at the lion. Before I could do so, however, Link had gotten scratched by the beast's paws because you startled the poor creature. If you hadn't over-reacted, Link could've gotten out of there unscathed."

"Oh, don't blame it on your mother." A kind voice said, "She was only scared that she might lose her only son."

Zelda turned around, and her eyes widened to see Link who smiled in embarrassment. She glanced at his arm, and he placed his other around it protectively.

"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked gently, reaching towards it uncertainly.

"Yes, but it's no big deal, really."

"I don't believe you. Let me see it." Zelda commanded, gently removing his other arm. She gasped; four long jagged scratches ran down his bicep, ending just an inch above his elbow. Blood seeped out of the cuts slowly, staining the edge of his short sleeve.

"Link! This _is_ a big deal! You need to seek medical attention immediately."

"That's what the keepers told me, but I hate hospitals, and I was hoping they had first aid here. Apparently however, they only radioed first aid for the lion they just tranquilized. So inconsiderate to someone who just saved a child from being eaten by that same lion, I'm considering suing them." Link stated in a joking manner, a small grin on his face.

"This isn't funny Link Avalon, I'm taking you to a hospital, let's go."

"You don't have a car."

Zelda stopped, midway from stomping away, and turned to Link again, "So? Ever heard of a taxi?"

Link laughed, shaking his head, "No, what I meant to say was we're gonna have to go in my car. That's all. Come on."

Zelda rolled her eyes, furious. How could he take such an injury so lightly? Just the same as always…

She followed after him, with Sheik at her tail. They walked up the walkway towards the park entrance. They passed by the gang, who were staring at the various birds in the bird habitat.

"Oooh look!" Malon squealed, "There's the Hero Hawk! It looks so regal…"

The group nodded, and Midna spotted the trio out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey! Zelda! You guys saw the whole park already?" Midna asked excitedly, the Zoo atmosphere/caffeine affecting her mood. She quieted down however when she saw Zelda's grim and furious face as she made her way to them.

"Hey what's wr-" Midna began.

"Link was attacked by a lion; we're leaving and going to a hospital to get treatment for him. See you guys later." Zelda interrupted curtly, she didn't have time for this. She needed to get Link treated before he picked at the wound anymore…

"Oh, okay then. Uh, see you later." Midna replied, stunned. She obviously was not expecting that…

* * *

Zelda grumbled as they pulled into the ER parking lot. It had taken forever to get to the stupid hospital because some idiot had pulled in front of some brunette and they collided, creating a major traffic jam, no one had gotten hurt, but Zelda had been stuck in traffic with an injured idiot genius and a bored twelve year old. Her mood just kept getting worse and worse.

"Look I can make it bubble…" Link mumbled to himself, fascinated with touching his wound, as they walked into the ER. Zelda glared at him as she held the door open for him and her son, who was still singing the same song from when Zelda had made the mistake of turning the radio in the car on.

"It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Fridayyy!" Sheik sang happily.

Why was he so goddamn cheerful right now? Zelda thought darkly, muttering to herself. She paused in her tracks when she saw the wait in the ER.

"For the love of Din! What is this!" She cursed, gesturing to the hectic room. It was at full capacity full of delirious/hysterical sick, injured, and downright stupid people. There was a guy with a fishhook stuck in his lip, a girl bent over a bucket, puking her brains out, a bald man who was holding a bloody bandage over his hand, several babies screaming at the top of their little lungs, and only two nurses at the front desk, looking as if nothing was wrong.

Zelda walked up to the nurses, dragging the two idiots behind her, Sheik still singing, and Link still picking at his wound, "Excuse me." She said curtly, her patience running thin.

A purple haired girl in a pink nurse's hat turned to her with a sleepy expression on her face, "Yes? How can I help you?" She said groggily.

"Uh, what does it look like? My, uh, _friend_ here has a huge lion scratch on his arm."

"Oh. Well that's unfortunate."

"Well, yeah. We need a doctor, like now."

"Ooooh," the nurse breathed, "No can dooo, girly. The doctors only see patients on a first come first serve basis. Now if you had called ahead of time, I could've fit you in-"

"Oh hell no! You are going to see him now! If you delay this any longer his wound will include his entire arm!"

The nurse didn't bat an eyelash, instead she yawned casually, "Look, that's your problem honey. You should contain your boyfriend better."

"I said that he's a _friend_." Zelda spat, "and why do you think I'm telling you to let us in!"

"Oh you two aren't dating? That's interesting…" The nurse turned to Link, batting her eyes flirtatiously. Link smiled sheepishly, rubbing his good arm behind his head.

Zelda frowned deeply and knit her brows, "Act your age, idiot." she yelled at Link.

He chuckled, "Calm down Zel."

Sheik sent him a death glare, "I told you not to call her that."

"Sorry, sorry. Zel_da_."

Sheik just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Look, nurse-"

"Nurse Bombchu. Read the tag." She said lazily, still gazing at Link.

"Sorry, Nurse _Bombchu_, If you like him so much, let him in, otherwise he is going to die from infection or loss of blood." Zelda said rolling her eyes.

The second nurse finally turned, her eyebrows raised. She had red hair and looked strikingly similar to Romani.

"Alicia." The second nurse warned, "Don't let the Blondie get to you. Why don't you step back, while I handle this?"

Nurse Bombchu nodded and sat back in her chair, eyeing Link up. The second nurse smiled and looked at Link as well, completely ignoring Zelda.

"Hello, my name is Nurse Cremia, how can I help you?"

"His arm is-" Zelda began, but was cut off when Nurse Cremia held up her hand to silence her.

"I didn't ask you, I asked him." Nurse Cremia nodded at Link to answer her question. He lifted his arm up to her inspection.

"Ohh, that looks bad. What happened?"

"Lion attack."

"Really? Now how did that happen." Nurse Cremia said, looking at the wound with a practiced eye. Link lapsed into the tale, and when he finished Nurse Cremia just nodded.

"Your story checks out. I just got a phone call from the Zoo, they said you would be coming here. The next doctor will see you, 'kay?" She flashed a pearly white smile, and Link nodded, pleased.

Zelda pursed her lips, "How long will that take?"

"Oh, I'm ready now." A gruff voice said behind her. Zelda jumped in surprise and turned to see a short, thin old man with one large tooth sticking out from beneath his bottom lip. He had on huge, thick glasses that enlarged his eyes to three times their size. It was strange how this weak old man had such a deep voice, but Zelda just brushed it aside.

"You must be doctor." She said warmly, relief rushing over her. Finally someone who wasn't an idiot!

"No, I'm a clown, what did you think?" The old man said sarcastically, his gruff voice changing into a cackle. Zelda stared at him, surprised.

"E-excuse me!" she said indignantly.

"Oh never mind, sweet cakes," he cackled, "I'm Doctor Borville. You, come with me." he said, pointing to Link and shuffling away. Zelda scoffed and went to sit down next to the guy holding his bloody hand. Sheik came and sat next to her, an amused expression on his face.

The man with the bloody hand gave her a dopey grin, "Hewwo. Mah nomes Dampé! Imah gravekepper." He drawled in a lame tone, "I cut mah hand diggin' a grave fah tha mayor's daughtah. She died of Powiooo." He gave her a dopey grin, and Zelda merely nodded.

"I-I'm sorry?" she said, unsure of how to reply.

"Ah nah, I nevah new tha gaw. Heard sha was a brat though, never gwatefulll for wat sha gots."

"O-oh."

Dampé fell into silence, the grin still on his face. Sheik was chuckling now, and Zelda shushed him, not wanting the mentally impaired man to hear. A few minutes later, Link came out, his arm bandaged thoroughly, and he smiled when he saw Zelda and Sheik.

"Shall we get out of here now?" He asked pleasantly.

"Not now, I gotta pay." Zelda grumbled, not looking forward to dealing with the two ditzy nurses. She stood and picked up her purse. Link put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and she looked at him quizzically.

"No need, they'll just put it on my tab. I've been here plenty of times."

"Oh really?" Zelda said, raising her eyebrows. For some reason, she wasn't surprised. Yep, definitely the same old Link.

She laughed, her bad mood finally gone. "Okay big guy, let's go back now."

He nodded, and the trio headed out. Zelda turned to Sheik when they exited.

"Well, you were quiet most of the time. What's up?"

Sheik turned to Zelda, smirked, and then turned to Link, "You know Mr. Bunny? I've changed my opinion about you. I don't hate you; I just think you are plain stupid. You are so stupid, that you're brave." with that, Sheik ran off to Link's black car, and Zelda and Link just stood there, stunned. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

**I had fun writing this chapter, hoped you enjoyed it as well. Also, I have a request, if anybody knows a good beta reader if they could please tell me? I've been looking for one for a while, and I have no idea who to use. I thank you ahead of time. As always, don't forget to review ;)**


	9. Soda Jerks Shouldn't Have Red Hair

**Squeeeeeeee! So here is Chapter 9 guys and gals! Sorry for the long wait, it is my first time having a beta and all so I was a lil' bit confused! But anyway, please give a warm welcome to my new (and totally awesome) Beta Reader Midna3452! **

**Hey, everyone, Midna3452 here! I just wanted to let you know that hylianprincessZ has allowed me to beta her amazing fanfic, so I'll be editing her chapters from now on. Be sure to review them, because she obviously put a lot of work into them! ^_^**

**Please Enjoy!**

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Chapter 9: Soda Jerks Shouldn't Have Red Hair

_It didn't take Link long to realize that Zelda wasn't such a scary beast. In fact, she liked him so much better when he didn't stutter over every other word. He learned this on their first date, a date Zelda remembered well._

_The phone had been ringing off the hook for the past two days in Zelda's bedroom in Central Castle Town. Most of those calls were along the lines of "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND! *SQUEEEEL"*, or it was boys crying "I thought we had something special? Why Zelda, why?!" _

_All things considered, the experience was extremely annoying. For someone who had never previously had a boyfriend, Zelda probably broke more hearts that week than any other girl in the world. And that was saying something._

_So imagine Zelda's relief when the phone rang yet again, but the caller ID read her new beau. Needless to say, she picked the phone up faster than a flare dancer being chased with water._

"_Hellooo?" she asked in a sweet voice._

"_H-hey. Umm, so about our first 'official' date…," Link said on the other end._

"_Yes! Where is it gonna be?" Zelda asked excitedly._

"_How about Sera Sundries Soda Shop? Unless you don't want to…"_

"_No that's perfect!" Zelda exclaimed, "My friends and I go there all the time! I love that place; it's perfect."_

_She could practically hear Link grinning on the other line, as he enthusiastically said: "Awesome! I'll pick you up tomorrow at 5, and I won't be late this time!"_

_Zelda laughed, "I believe you. See you then."_

_He said good-bye and hung up. Zelda placed the phone back on its hook and went to lie on her bed. She thought for a bit, mostly about what she was going to wear. It was eight o'clock on a Saturday night, so obviously Zelda didn't ponder too long before drifting off to sleep._

_The next morning, Zelda called Marin up._

"_Hello?" Marin replied after two rings of the phone. Zelda heard soft scraping on the other end and she figured her friend was buffing her nails to get ready to paint them. She did that often, changing the color every other day._

"_Hey Marin! It's Zelda."_

"_Zellie! Oh thank goodness you called! I'm having a hard time choosing a new color. It's between sky blue and lilac purple. They're both so pretty, but I can't decide…" Marin trailed off, uncertainty etched in her voice. Zelda frowned at the new nickname, seeing as it was the first time Marin had ever even given her a nickname._

"_Well?" Marin asked impatiently, jarring Zelda out of her thoughts._

"_Uh, purple."_

"_Good choice!" she replied happily, and Zelda heard her unscrew a bottle on the other end._

"_Uh, quick question Marin. Where did you come up with 'Zellie'?" Zelda asked, completely forgetting about the real reason she called._

"_Hmmm? Oh, just now when you picked up, I rather like it don't you? Now I've decided that's what I'm going to call you from now on. You deserve a nickname now that you have a boyfriend," Marin teased._

"_Oh! Speaking of, we have a date tonight at Sera Sundries, and I have absolutely no idea what to wear."_

_Marin squealed, "Aw Zellie! That is too cute, your first date! EEEEE! You called the right girl- I'll be over at your house in ten minutes, 'kay?"_

_Zelda beamed. "Gotcha Marin, see you in ten."_

"_See you!" she replied, and hung up the phone. Zelda smiled. She loved when Marin came over; she always picked the cutest outfits. Midna did too, but her tastes were more… sexy? Zelda didn't know how to describe it. If anything, Zelda would call Midna up if she and Link ever decided to go dancing somewhere. He was a good dancer after all, so Zelda expected them to do so eventually._

_Ten minutes later, Marin arrived at Zelda's doorstep, huffing and puffing. Zelda raised her eyebrows incredulously,_

"_Why are you tired?"_

"_I ran here, that's why," she stated in between gasps for air. "My dad took my car to the shop. Something about needing a new battery, I thought cars were gas powered."_

_Zelda grinned slyly, Marin didn't know a thing about her car, just how to drive it and that the check engine light was bad._

"_Well, do you want a drink of water?" Zelda asked, trying to hold back her laughter as she let her strawberry-haired friend inside her house._

"_That would be nice," Marin agreed, still panting, but Zelda was sure she was just being a tad bit over dramatic. She glanced down at her friend's hand and saw only two nails were painted purple. Zelda grinned and led the way to the kitchen._

_Zelda's mom was in the kitchen washing dishes when the girls entered from the foyer. She raised her eyebrows at the flushed-faced Marin, but said nothing. She just reached into a cupboard and handed Zelda a glass. Zelda then filled it with ice and water and the duo walked out._

"_Your mom still doesn't say much," Marin stated after Zelda handed her the glass and she took three hearty gulps of the cold water._

"_Yeah, well, can't really blame her," Zelda said with a frown, wanting the conversation to end. It hurt her as much as it did her mom, but she got over it. Sort of._

_Marin gave her a reassuring smile, "So about that date…," she began._

_The next few hours involved Marin scrutinizing Zelda's closet crying about how she had nothing to wear and then dragging Zelda out the door and into her mom's car so Zelda could drive them to the mall. It then consisted of Marin crying about how even the stores had nothing before walking into Terminian Designs and having her exclaim that she had died and gone to heaven. It THEN consisted of Zelda whining about how she hated a particular pattern on a shirt and then Marin griping saying that Zelda couldn't see the big picture. At the end of all the hassle, they both left satisfied._

"_Thanks again Marin," Zelda said, dropping her friend off at her house._

"_No problem!" she chirped. "Now get going! You're going to be late!"_

_Zelda obliged, running home and getting ready. When she was done, she had curled her hair back and into a side swept look, put on a tropical blue tank top with a white crocheted jacket that tied around her stomach. She then put on rolled up dark wash Capri's with a multicolored satin belt. Lastly, she put on a pair of black bohemian flats with gold tassel. She smiled at herself in the mirror, making the whole outfit come together. Link was going to be speechless._

_He was._

_When Zelda opened her door to see Link, she giggled when he almost dropped the small bouquet of flowers in his hand out of sheer shock._

"_What?" she demanded. "Moblin got your tongue?"_

_Link shook his head. "N-no, you just look really pretty. I think I underdressed."_

_He wore a simple white T-shirt, blue jeans and a black jacket. Zelda didn't mind his simplicity, however, because it made him that much more handsome._

"_No you didn't," she said happily, "It's perfect for a Soda Shop. Let me just grab my purse."_

_She reentered the house and walked to the kitchen, where her mom was sitting staring at the foyer. Obviously watching Link._

"_He's a nice guy Mom, don't worry. You'd like him," Zelda said casually, grabbing her purse and exiting the kitchen, but not before she heard her mom reply._

"_I already know I do," she whispered, smiling a little. Zelda beamed, reentered the kitchen and kissed her on the cheek._

"_See you later Mom!" she chirped, and left the house._

"_Ready?" Link asked, cautiously putting his arm around her back._

"_Yep!"_

_Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the soda shop. A bright and cheery waitress greeted them._

"_Romani!" Zelda gasped, "I didn't know you worked here."_

_Romani grinned, "Got the job yesterday, forgot to tell anyone. So, is this your first date?"_

"_Yep, table for two," Link said, smiling as well._

"_Aw! Alright, follow me." Romani winked at the two of them and turned to lead them to their seat. Link gestured for Zelda to follow in front of him._

"_Ladies first." Zelda grinned, taking the lead between the two of them. Romani showed them to a small booth in the corner of the shop, where they could talk in privacy but still get a good view of the shenanigans that occur inside the shop's walls. Zelda thanked her friend, and sat in the booth across from Link._

_He smiled and picked up his menu, "So, uh, what are you getting?" he asked._

"_Not sure, seeing as I haven't picked my menu up yet," she replied grinning. Link flushed, embarrassed._

"_R-right, sorry," he mumbled._

"_Lighten up! I was just kidding." Zelda laughed, feeling a little guilty. _

_Link perked up suddenly, "What's this?" he asked, pointing to a section of a menu that read:_

_The Sunday Sundae Spectacular!_

_2 sundaes_

_Lots of whipped cream_

_Loads of fun!_

_Be prepared for questions of extraneous proportions!_

_Zelda frowned. "I don't know… but it sounds fun! We should try it."_

_Link grinned. "I think Marth told me about this; something about some kind of challenge to get the sundaes. We definitely need to get it."_

_Romani came back to their table. "Well you two love birds, what'll it be?"_

_Zelda blushed, but Link just said, "We'll take the Sunday Sundae Spectacular, please."_

_Romani grinned and leaned down into Link's face. "You sir, are a genius!" she exclaimed happily._

"_Why?" Zelda asked, staring at Romani intently._

_Romani didn't answer, but instead walked into the middle of the shop, and other customers stopped eating to stare at her as she cleared her throat._

"_Well, folks! Guess what? It's time for the Sunday Sundae Spectacular! Will our two contestants please come over here?" Romani chirped, waving her hands towards the couple. Awkwardly, Link and Zelda stood and made their way over to the red headed waitress, who placed her arms around their shoulders._

"_Alllrightie folks! This fabulous girl is Miss Zelda Harkinian! And her entourage is Mr. Link Avalon! I will now explain the rules of this simple, but ohh-so-fun game! First of all, you will answer questions, and the first one to get it right gets a point. First person to get five points will get the opportunity to 'whip' the other contestant. Afterwards, you two can enjoy your lovely sundaes! Do you understand?"_

_Zelda nodded, and so did Link._

"_Wonderful! Alright, first question! What is the first item featured on Sera Sundries menu?"_

_Zelda gawked, she'd been here frequently, but even she didn't remember._

"_Sundries Sun dried Tomato and Basil Pasta." Link answered after a second of thought._

"_Correct! Link has one point! Zelda has none, boo hoo. Alright next question! What is the largest mammal in the world?"_

_What were these questions? Zelda didn't have biology for another year!_

"_The blue whale," Link said simply._

"_Din dammit," Zelda muttered under breath. Link just grinned at her. Goddesses he had a lovely smile…_

"_Correct! Link now has two points! Miss Zelda still has none. Poor her! Onto the next question." Romani was obviously having a lot of fun making fun of Zelda, so she really wanted to get the next question-_

"_Leonardo da Vinci," Link said. Zelda hadn't even heard the question! What is this?!_

"_Correct! Zelda, you have yet to even answer! What is wrong with you, hmmm? Anyway, Link has three points and Zelda has zero. Onto the fourth question, which will be the last question, seeing as Zelda cannot even win. Which brings me to my next point- the person who gets this question will automatically win! Alright, the question is: what does an apiculturist study?"_

_Zelda thought for a moment, she learned this somewhere. Bugs? No that's not it, but its close…_

"_Bees," Link replied, a grin stretching across his face._

"_We have a winner!" Romani exclaimed, throwing her hands out and hugging Link and Zelda. She pinched Zelda's cheek teasingly and then continued on with her bravado._

"_Well then! For our winner, one whole can of whipped cream! Now please make this entertaining, Mr. Link," Romani said, leaning on a counter to watch the madness. Link happily complied; he shook the can and then held it out menacingly towards Zelda. She took a step back, a smile tugging at her lips._

"_You… wouldn't DARE!" Link chased her throughout the shop, squirting her with the cold cream. Zelda laughed as the white stuff got on her new clothes. She ran behind Romani and whispered in her ear, using her as a shield._

"_Marin is gonna kill you. This outfit was her pride and joy." Zelda laughed, and yelped when Link snuck behind her and squirted some of the cream in her hair. Shocked, she reached up with her hand and scooped some of the whipped cream into her hand and inspected it. She looked at Link and grinned, an idea in her mind. She darted her hand forward and splattered the cream all over her face. Link sputtered, and some of it flew out of his mouth. He grinned and grabbed Zelda around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. He handed the whipped cream back to a bemused Romani and walked back to his seat. Zelda beat on his back in mock anger. _

"_Let me down!" she yelled._

"_Nope!" Link grinned._

_The rest of the shop was laughing gaily at the funny couple. Finally, after a few more beats to his back, Link placed Zelda back in her seat. She scowled at him, but there was happiness in her eyes. Before either of them could say anything, their sundaes came and they ate them in silence, unsure of what to say._

"_I can't believe we just did that." Zelda whispers to herself, taking a final scoop of her sundae._

"_Neither can I," Link replied jovially. "But I had fun. Anyway, I'm gonna go pay for our meal."_

_Zelda nodded, smiling also. She had a lot of fun on their date, and was looking forward to their next one…_

* * *

Zelda woke up from the dream, and sat up in her bed. She held her head in her hands, thinking through the events of the dream again. She was smiling; she truly still ranked that date as number one, on par with the carnival with Ike. She grinned again and looked around the room towards the window…

Wait a minute, this wasn't her room.

This wasn't her room.

Where was she?

Where was Sheik?

"OH MY GODDESS!" Zelda screamed out, jumping out of the unknown bed. She was immediately hit with the worst head ache she had ever experienced in her whole life. Had she been drugged? When? Why? How? She heard a noise to her right and her head whipped over. She narrowed her eyes; Link was coming out of the bathroom, without a shirt, and was drying his hair with a towel. He saw Zelda and smiled.

"Oh! You're up!"

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**And that's chapter 9! I promise from the bottom of my heart the next chapter will not take as long, and I can't wait till then! Bye for now, and don't forget to leave your opinion on how I did! And thanks yet again to Midna3452 for 'Beta'ing the chapter! **

**Z out ;)**


	10. Getting the Facts Straight

**Hey all! Here's another chapter, and with not as long a wait- like I promised!**

**See I can keep promises XD**

**Anyway, Midna3452 didn't have an A/N soooo**

**Please enjoy!**

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Chapter 10: Getting the Facts Straight

"_Oh, you're up!"_

If Zelda had screamed just at the sight of Link, the world would have exploded three times over.

Instead, she fainted.

When she came to, she was groggy, hung over, and sick to her stomach. Link was nowhere in sight, for which she was glad. Zelda tried to run the possibilities in her head about how the heck she even got in this... place.

Realization hit. What if she had slept with him! Zelda paled and almost vomited right then and there if it weren't for the fact that the man of the hour came into the room himself carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and talking on the phone with the other. He had put a shirt on, his dark green v-neck, and his hair seemed dry. This only added to Zelda's misery, because for some stupid reason she was _disappointed_that Link had enough modesty to put a shirt on in front of women. He really did have a nice body…

_No. You are_ not_going there!_ Zelda hissed to herself. _You have work to do! Find out how you got here._

Zelda looked up as Link handed her the cup of Joe and continued chatting away on his phone. She felt slightly annoyed for being ignored until she heard a faint but familiar cackle on the other end.

Midna.

Link had called Midna up because she had promised she would watch Sheik.

_Oh, goddesses you are truly cruel. Sticking me in this situation where Midna can just laugh at me and Sheik will murder Link. Oh what must they think of me?!_

As if on cue, Link laughed out and glanced in Zelda's direction. She paled and almost fainted again if it weren't for the fact that she had a hot mug of coffee clutched in her hands. Trying to calm herself, she took a swig. It tasted amazing, but it only made Zelda even angrier. Of course he made amazing coffee, of course he did 'it' with her last night when she was obviously drunk and then laugh about it with Midna later, and of course all this did was make Zelda feel even angrier. It was like a cruel vicious cycle.

Chuckling, Link hung up the phone and tossed it lazily onto the bed. However, the throw was long and the phone went clear over the side, landing with a _thunk_on the floor. Instead of picking it up, Link just shrugged and sat at the end of the bed, turning towards Zelda.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked, his blue eyes baring holes straight into Zelda's soul. Annoyed, she turned away, crossing her arms in a huff over her red dress. Link chuckled again, also turning away, and spoke as if to himself.

"She must think so lowly of me… so much for the gratitude for taking her in when she was wasted. I mean, you hand her a glass of wine and she'll ask for ten more. Good thing I slept in the guest bedroom, otherwise I think I might have died before the sun came up."

Zelda's face flushed hotly as his words on what had happened the previous night, one that she clearly didn't remember. What had they talked about? She wished she knew, because she felt like it was important…

Link turned and grinned at her, "You must think we did it, huh? Well, no. That's why you still have your clothes on, silly."

Zelda gaped at him as he got up to leave, winking before he left the room. What he said _did_ make sense, and Zelda loved sense at this moment. He also wouldn't be one to take advantage of her like that…

However, being the stubborn mule that she was, Zelda decided to stay angry. Wanting to show Link how "angry" she really was, she kicked off the large, white comforter and got out of the queen sized bed. Huffing loudly, she made her way after Link into a hallway, down the stairs, and finally into the kitchen where she was met with the most amazing smell ever.

Bacon.

The bastard had made bacon.

Awkwardly, Zelda sat down at the barstools stationed in front of a counter leading into the kitchen. The seats were red leather and the counter was a grey marble. Link's kitchen was state of the art with absolutely every appliance you could ever think of. Laying a plate down in front of her, Link loaded it up with eggs, toast, and bacon… glorious bacon.

Murmuring her thanks, Zelda somehow managed to hold onto her stubborn anger. She began to eat, under the uncomfortable scrutiny of Link.

"Could you stop that?" she spat out, anger and annoyance making her voice sound icy and heartless. Link just chuckled and turned away, pouring himself another cup of coffee. He drank it black, like Zelda did. Wait- how did he know she drank it black?

Then she remembered.

It had been in the summer of her junior year (his senior) and they had gone to the local Farore's Café. The store had been popping up all over Hyrule and Castle Town and many of their friends had told them how wonderful their coffee and desserts were. Link and Zelda had decided they had had enough of hearing it and wanted to check it out themselves. So together, they had made their way to Castle Town's main shopping district.

Upon arriving at the café, Zelda remembered being assaulted with the intense smell of well-brewed coffee, and her mouth still watered at the thought (Farore's Cafés had gone out of business years ago).

They had walked up to the cash register to take their order, and when they looked up at the menu, they were overwhelmed with all of the terms for coffee.

_Latte_

_Frappuccino_

_Mocha_

_Cappuccino_

_Americano_

_Breve_

_Espresso_

_Iced Mocha_

_Macchiato_

_And then there were the sizes:_

_Demi_

_Short_

_Tall_

_Grande_

_Venti_

_Trenta_

Neither of them had known what any of it had meant and the cashier was getting impatient. Unsure of what to say Zelda had whispered meekly,

"Um, one small coffee. Black, please."

The cashier had raised his eyebrows at her and said, "You mean a short café?"

Not knowing what to do, Zelda just nodded meekly, her cheeks burning. Link had ordered the same as her and they stood off to the side to wait for their drinks, and when they came out the both of them took a sip, Zelda remembered the absolute ecstasy they had been in. In short, the coffee- or rather, _café_- was amazing. Still the best coffee Zelda had ever had.

Snapping out of her reverie, Zelda realized that Link had been trying to talk to her. The memory had made all her anger dissipate for the time being, and Zelda used this moment to latch back onto reality.

"You okay?" he asked, offering her a refill in her own coffee mug.

"Y-yeah, I was just thinking about our visit to Farore's."

Link grinned. "Oh yeah! I remember that, good times, good times. That coffee was amazing; it's a shame they went out of business. Used to get one every day before heading to my classes."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was probably the only thing that could keep me awake in Mr. Lion Nohansen's class."

Zelda chuckled slightly, picturing the scene. Link dozing off to a really boring teacher until he took a sip of his scalding hot coffee and was instantly awake. Humorous.

"What did you do when they closed?" she asked, sipping her coffee.

"Well, by then I was already my own boring professor and didn't need it, but my students? Let's just say they're too scared to fall asleep in my classes."

"What did you do to them?"

"Whenever they fell asleep I would kick them out of the classroom and then give a quiz that counted for half their grade on what they missed."

"That's too cruel!"

"Hey, in my defense, I warned them about it in the beginning of the year and I've only ever had to do it once, and the kid still got a perfect on it. He had already read that far in the textbook and all he had to do was ask another student what he missed. Just the thought of the punishment was enough to keep them awake. Plus, I pride myself on being somewhat interesting when talking about rocks."

"Right…"

They laughed a bit, and Zelda finished her breakfast. Cleaning up after her, Link told her that his sister, Aryll, had left some of her clothes behind the last time she had visited and that Zelda could use them if she wanted to. Nodding, Zelda made her way back upstairs to where Link told her the clothes were kept and pulled out a simple black top and blue jeans. She'd be okay wearing her red flats with them; she was only going home after this.

She brought the clothes into the bathroom with her, and (after undressing) stepped into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she was out again, drying her hair with a towel.

Zelda had only ever met Aryll once; the girl was 7 years older than Link and was often away for work. If Zelda remembered correctly, Aryll was a liaison for two big companies, and it often left her travelling cross country for months at a time. This travelling stressed her out so she ran in her spare time to calm her nerves. This way she kept up a pretty good physique, and Zelda slipped into her clothes easily.

Having showered and dressed, Zelda headed back downstairs. Link was there, finishing up washing the breakfast dishes. He looked up when Zelda appeared in the room.

"That was fast."

"Yeah."

Link was quiet again, wiping a ceramic plate with a towel in a large, circular motion. Zelda thought he wasn't going to talk until he finished the dishes, and an awkward silence ensued.

_This is crazy; we used to be able to talk for hours on end. Why is it so difficult now?_

Desperate, Zelda racked her brain for a conversation topic. Anything would do. Before she knew it, and before she could regret it, the question flew out of her mouth.

"So have you been seeing anyone lately?"

Link paused, his hand frozen over top of the water spigot, the rushing droplets spraying all over the now clean plate. Sighing, he resumed motion and placed the plate on the drying rack. He picked up the second plate, and began to wash it as well.

"Maybe," he answered at last, "maybe not."

Zelda groaned, "Just be straight with me here. Seriously; tell me!"

Link remained resolute and Zelda felt her anger begin to boil up inside of her.

"Link, tell me. If you don't, so help me Nayru…" Zelda's voice took on a menacing tone, her anger beginning to win her over. She didn't even try to bottle it up; it would be too hard. Link raised an eyebrow at her and resumed washing the dishes. Calmly, he finally spoke.

"Since when did you get angry so easily? You used to laugh at _everything_," he said, placing the dish on the drying rack with a loud bang and turned to face her. "But maybe you changed more than I thought. Your taste in men certainly has."

The last sentence hung in the air with an icy sting, as Zelda began to realize the full meaning of what Link had said.

"How dare you! Ike was a good man- no, a great man! Certainly a better man than _you_-" She jabbed her finger at him, poking him hard in the chest. "-because he never left me!"

Link widened his eyes in shock, his mouth hanging slightly open. Zelda turned to leave, thinking how she could call a taxi, when Link grabbed her hand and turned her back to face him. She glared at his nose, avoiding his eyes altogether. They were too blue, she decided, and she didn't like it.

"Zel…," he said, his voice low. "I…"

Zelda scoffed and broke his grip on her hand. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and headed for the door. Turning back to him on her way out the door, she called to him:

"You can't even say it, and you never will. I'm sick of you, Link Avalon. I was actually starting to be happy again, so just get out of my life, and _stay out_."

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

**Angsty... sort of. Anyway, what will happen next? I have no idea! Wait, yes I do. I'm writing this story, duhhhh. *smacks head***

**ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as I did writing it, and please look forward to the next update!**


	11. Breaking Point

**Uhhm, yeah I have no words to say that'll express my apologies towards you. It's late, Realllllly late. So please read it and enjoy!**

* * *

Reminiscence is Calling

Chapter 11: Breaking Point

Zelda was floating on her anger. She felt on top of the world as she walked triumphantly out of Link's house and down his driveway. She even sounded confident when she called the taxi. Nothing could stop her or get in her way.

She kept telling herself that she had said the right things, and as she got in the taxi she saw Link at his house, a defeated look on his face. He tried to wave at her, but thought against it, and, while shaking his head, turned and went back inside.

At first Zelda wanted to pump her fist in victory

_Take that, bastard!_

Then when the taxi started moving, all her anger that had been cushioning her up until that point went away, leaving her sitting on the cold hard ground, so to speak. The anger was just a façade, one that she couldn't support when the man in question had tried to apologize to her, and probably didn't mean a word.

Zelda felt a few tears fall down her face, framing it before dropping off her chin onto her lap. She didn't bother to wipe them away, because if she did, she would cry even harder.

The taxi pulled up to the hotel, and Zelda paid the driver before getting out. As she entered the elevator, it took all of her willpower not to just sob right there in the midst of strangers. A few of them must have seen her pained face, as they threw her a few sympathetic looks but nothing more.

Zelda had had it; she needed to see her son. Now.

She practically sprinted off the elevator when it reached her floor. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her room key. Sliding it in, she swung open the door. The scene she was greeted with was Midna playing a round of Go Fish with Sheik at the kitchen table. Immediately, all of Zelda's strength left her, and she collapsed to the floor, sobs wracking through her body.

"Oh Farore! Zelda, what's wrong?" Midna exclaimed, throwing down her hand of cards and rushing to Zelda's side. Sheik sat in his chair and didn't move; a stony look in his face.

"He…. Coffee…I … run… taxi… Ike… fun…" Nothing Zelda said made sense to Midna as her sobbing distorted her speaking, so Midna just rubbed circles on her back in a soothing motion. It made Zelda feel a little better, but not much.

"Shhhhhh, it's gonna be alright, Zel. It's gonna be alright. Calm down, that's right, calm yourself down. Nothing's going to fix itself if you don't calm down."

Midna cooed at Zelda for a few more minutes before the blonde's sobbing finally slowed down, leaving her hiccupping and hugging her friend.

"Thank you so much, you're an angel," Zelda murmured to her, wiping her eyes. After the hug, she sat back on her heels and looked around the room.

"Where's Sheik?" she asked Midna, who sat back as well.

"Hmm? Oh, where is he?"

Zelda felt herself panic a bit; thinking about there was a big enough gap between her and the still open door for Sheik to easily slip out and act on the anger that he had recently expressed towards Link. She could only imagine how angry he was to find his mother sobbing after coming back from the house of the man he hated in the first place. Not to mention the betrayal of a person that he was starting to be friends with…

A sigh of relief was heard from Midna, and Zelda looked over. Sheik was coming from the bathroom, a small, wet washcloth in hand. Zelda would've sighed herself if it weren't for that expression on her son's face. It was devoid of any emotion, and that scared Zelda.

She had seen it only one time before, when Ike had passed away in the hospital. Sheik had said nothing for two weeks, that same expression on his face. It was just like his namesake used to do. He was named after the extinct Sheikah clan that Zelda's grandmother used to be a part of before she passed away. They were known for their ninja-like antics and the ability to hide all emotion, even the emotion in their eyes.

Zelda's grandmother, before she passed on, had begun to teach Sheik how to use this skill; however, he wasn't very good at it and couldn't hide the emotions in his eyes. For reasons Zelda had no clue about, he could only use this skill in times of extreme emotion.

So when Zelda saw the bitter anger in Sheik's eyes, she had a right to be afraid. She was afraid for her son. Sheik came over and handed to wet washcloth to her, the anger in his eyes subsiding only slightly as he helped his mom put herself back together. She smiled at him, only to have her heart break into a thousand more pieces when he didn't smile back.

Zelda finally stood and wrapped her son in a firm but worried hug. She tussled his hair with one hand and whispered in his ear.

"Sheik, promise me you won't do anything rash. _Please._"

Sheik only nodded, his stoic expression not once cracking. Zelda smiled weakly again, feeling her own throng of emotions wrapping its poisoned blanket around her. She could lose Sheik to this problem, and that fact was like a knife to the heart.

She just wanted to burst into tears again.

Midna placed her hand lightly on Zelda's shoulder and gestured to the door.

"I have to go. Will you be alright? You should definitely think of coming to Girl's Night; it could help cheer you up. I'll send Marin down to pick you up, so think about it, 'kay?"

Zelda nodded, and watched her fiery haired friend leave, closing the door behind her. She turned to Sheik, hugging him again, trying to get him to speak to her.

"Come on Sheik, speak to me! I missed you, and I want to talk to you. What's wrong?"

Sheik only shook his head and dislodged himself from Zelda's grasp, walking into his room. Zelda bit her lip, trying to hold her tears in place.

"Kafei's gonna pick you up to take you to the arcade around 4, okay? At 5 I'm leaving for the girl's night thing. Uh, please behave yourself with Mr. Dotour!"

She received no reply, no confirmation that Sheik had even heard her. Feeling helpless, just like all those months ago, Zelda slipped into her own room to get ready.

As promised, Kafei came and picked Sheik up at 4, and her son left without a word. Zelda was already ready for Girl's Night, but didn't really feel like going. Midna had called an hour back to check up on her, and Zelda had lied and said she was fine. Of course, being the person that she was, Midna knew Zelda was lying. She didn't press the subject though, and just said Marin would definitely be there to pick her up.

What Zelda hadn't been expecting was a visitor between these two times.

A few minutes after Sheik and Kafei left, there was a knock on Zelda's door. Standing, she went over to answer it, first peeping through the peek hole.

It was Link, holding her purse.

She hadn't even noticed that it was gone and she cursed herself inwardly. She did know though, that if she opened that door and Link apologized, she would not be able to contain her emotions and would break down in front of him. And Zelda had read romance novels before, she knew where _that_ led, and she didn't want to go down that alley. Ever again, for that matter.

She put the chain lock on the door and opened it, the chain preventing it from going all the way. She stuck her hand out the opening and gestured for Link to give her back her purse. He complied, but of course not before speaking.

"Zelda, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. Ike, for the little time I knew him was a good- no great man, a man that deserved you. I know this is really sappy and cliché, but… I don't deserve you, as you found out at my house.

"I know that no matter how much you deny being affected by my leaving, in reality it ripped you apart. You're afraid of trying again because every time you do, the man that you're with leaves. He leaves and never comes back. And honestly, it didn't seem you had that problem with Ike, you said you two had a spotless relationship, but it was there. I could feel it sometimes when you talked about him, the pain of your separation. That is why you're so angry with everything. It's your defense mechanism.

"So, I, uh, just wanted to say that I came back, Zelda. I didn't leave again, and I won't. Even if it's just as friends, I'm here. So please forgive me, because I had no right to say what I did."

After he was done, he handed Zelda back her purse. She thanked him quietly and shut the door. She heard him stiffen slightly before sighing and finally walking away to leave Zelda in bitter peace. Zelda slid down the door and sat there, holding her purse to her chest, feeling the tears come once again.

Everything he said was true, and hit her right to the core. What was happening to her? She was so emotional about everything now…

There was another knock on the door, and Zelda at first thought it was Link coming back, but then a feminine voice rang through it.

"Zellllliiiiie! I'm herreee!" Marin sang jovially.

Zelda sniffed and stood to open the door. There Marin was, prancing back in forth in front of Zelda's door in an aqua dress, her heels in her hand.

"Are you re- Oh Farore, Zelda! What's wrong?" Marin exclaimed, pushing into the apartment. It was like Déjà vu for her, seeing as that was exactly what Midna said. Zelda smiled slightly before the tears came again…and then she burst into tears again. Worried, Marin led her to a couch and sat her down. She let her cry a bit before asking her again.

Zelda told Marin everything, from being wasted, to eating bacon, the dream, the coffee house, and, finally, the argument. She took a breather in between explanations, trying to calm herself down.

"L-Link came here, a few minutes ago."

Marin looked alarmed, and sat up straighter, "What did he want?" she asked hastily.

"He wanted to apologize, and he did. He also said that Ike was a great man that deserved me and that he was the one who wasn't. He also s-said some things that hit home. It's like he knows me better than I know myself… He knew why I get angry and why I really didn't want to come and that no matter what I say, him leaving had been the worst thing to ever happen in my life." After saying this, Zelda proceeded to cry some more. She had given up trying to dry her eyes, not with her insides crumbling in on themselves like they were.

Marin moved closer to Zelda on the couch and began to pat her back lightly.

"So, what did you say?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing. I took my purse from him and shut the door in his face."

Marin chuckled lightly. "Alright then, how do you feel? Are you going to forgive him?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. Every fiber of my body says to forgive him, but my head is saying no, that will only lead to romantic despair. It scares me Marin. It scares me."

Marin nodded in understanding, "I see. Well, I'm not very good at this comforting thing Zellie, but I'll give it a shot. Let's see…" she thought a bit before proceeding, and Zelda waited anxiously.

"You're scared of a relationship because every other one ended badly. You don't want to get hurt again, especially because it involves Link. He made you an angry person, someone who doesn't trust the opposite sex easily, and someone who loves being alone."

Zelda winced, remembering what Link had told her at the door.

"At the same time, you hate that new person with a passion and you want her gone. You want the happy, honest Zelda from high school."

Marin looked to Zelda for confirmation at what she just said before going on.

"You've had two official boyfriends Zelda and one husband. Both of them are wonderful men, and I'd say you're the luckiest girl in the world.

However, I'd say Ike loved you the most; he thought of you all the time, there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't say your name in a conversation with my husband. He adored you, Zelda, and all he wants is your happiness. I bet if he thought that you would be happier without him in the picture, he would leave just because of that."

Zelda cried harder at the memory of her husband, and Marin took her hand comfortingly, pulling Zelda into a hug. They sat there for a few seconds before Marin finished, whispering into Zelda's blonde hair.

"So now that he's gone- and I don't think he wanted to leave- he wanted to bring someone into your life that'll make you equally happy. I think that he helped bring Link back into your life because he saw his absence was hurting you. Does that make sense?"

Zelda sniffed, "I-I think so…"

Marin smiled," you always listened to Ike's advice before, so won't you listen to him this one last time?"

Zelda sniffled and looked at her strawberry blonde-haired friend. She thought about what Marin had just said; that Ike wanted her and Link together. That Ike just wanted her to be happy. It sunk in slowly, and she felt her spirits start to lift.

"Do you really think Ike is watching?"

"Of course, Zellie. There is no way in the Sacred Realm that he wouldn't be."

"But what do I do? I'm positive Link thinks I hate him now!"

"Silly girl, just call him and apologize. Then invite him to drinks, he'll definitely agree. Go on, calm down and call him!"

Zelda nodded, sniffling some more. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Link's number. She was surprised she still remembered it, because a hazy familiarity told her that she had received it the night before.

_So that was that 'important' conversation we had…_

She smiled slightly and pressed 'call', and placed the phone up to her ear. After three rings, Link finally picked up.

"Hello?" his voice sounded dejected and sad. Zelda frowned.

"H-hi Link, its Zelda…"

"Zelda! Listen, I can't say how sorry I-"

Zelda cut him off. "I know Link. Uh, I'm the one who should apologize; I slammed the door in your face and all…"

Link chuckled slightly. "Nah, it wasn't a slam, and I don't really blame you for that. Anyway…"

They both stopped talking for a second, unsure of what to say. Zelda racked up her remaining frazzled courage and finally spoke.

"Do you want to go get some drinks later?" she asked.

"Do you want to go get some drinks later?" he asked at the same time.

There was a surprised pause between them. Zelda giggled, and then finally laughed out loud. It felt so good to laugh!

"Well…?" Link asked, laughing as well.

"Sure. How about at 7?"

"Perfect, I'll, uh, see you then."

"Yeah."

He hung up, and Zelda placed her phone back in her pocket. She turned to Marin, who had raised her eyebrows.

"I take it you have a date?"

"Yep!"

"I'll tell the girl's you're not coming to Girl's Night… That you have something a little more important to attend to." Marin touched her elbow in a friendly gesture, "I'm proud of you Zellie."

They hugged again and Marin got up to leave.

"Now don't get wasted this time." She said with a wink, as she opened the door to the hallway, "and have fun!"

Zelda nodded, grinning.

"Alright, bye!" And Marin closed the door, leaving Zelda alone in the hotel room. She hugged herself, thinking about what was going to occur later on that night. All her sadness evaporated into water vapor (probably making some pretty huge cloud somewhere in the world) and a certain sense of giddiness overcame her. She couldn't stop smiling. She had a date for the first time in twelve years. She had a date.

She was going on a date!

* * *

**Yeah, we're getting near the end here. I think a few more chapters will suffice. I have a sequel in mind, but I don't really know what the plot line will be yet, so don't get your hopes up. Hopefully the next chapter comes out quicker, but with school and everything, I have no idea! Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	12. Just a Certain Kind of Love

**A thousand apologies, please don't kill me. I finally got around to typing because it's Thanksgiving Break... As a consolation, I'm going to post a Thanksgiving one-shot, so please look for it. I also am not going to send this to my Beta Reader, because A) you've waited long enough, and B) I've read through it a couple times, and it looks pretty good. However, if there are mistakes... please blame me. Thank You.**

* * *

Reminiscence is Calling

Chapter 12: Just a Certain Kind of Love

7 pm came about way too quickly, and Zelda found her stomach swimming with butterflies. Why? She had seen Link before… but then there was the fact they had just argued. But then they made up, so everything was okay. So why did she feel so uneasy?

Before she could answer her conflicted thoughts, Zelda heard a knock on the hotel door. Link was here. Gathering what little composure she had left, she answered the door.

"H-hey." She said with a smile. There he was, in a nice suit jacket and dress pants with a green undershirt. She was wearing a blue shimmer gown with silver flats.

"Hi." He answered.

They stood awkwardly for a few seconds; it was like they were starting over from the beginning! Frustrated, Zelda grabbed her purse from the stand next to the door and stepped out into the hallway next to Link.

"Well, shall we get going?" she asked.

Link smiled, nodding, and, linking his arm in hers, led her towards the elevator. He hit the 1st floor button, and they began to descend.

"So did you have any particular bar in mind?" Link asked, standing next to her again.

Zelda thought a moment. "Ruto had mentioned a bar… um I think it was called Kokiri Forest?"

Link smiled knowingly, "I love that place, I go there all the time. It's pretty close too."

Zelda smiled; happy she had made a good choice. It was looking to be a great night…

When they arrived at Kokiri Forest, Zelda instantly knew why Link liked the place. First of all, it was his favorite color, green, and it was in all kinds of shades that seemed to compliment the place perfectly. There was also (obviously enough) a forest theme, with actual trees placed strategically about the bar so that individual sections were created for a perfect sense of privacy. Link probably came here in search of a break from his job or his research.

Link signaled to a waiter, who instantly came over to seat them. They slid into a bamboo booth, across from each other. The waiter smiled and asked if they had any idea what they would like to drink. Zelda skimmed over the drink menu quickly while Link ordered.

"Deku sprout cocktail please, with an extra deku nut. Oh, and can you bring out Chef Gohma's specialty for the night? I believe it was the sweet and sour meatballs?"

The waiter nodded, and turned to Zelda.

"Um, I'll have the Temple Guardian Special. Also with an extra deku nut." She smiled and handed the waiter the drink menu.

After he left, Zelda turned to Link.

"So…" She drawled.

"So… What?" He asked, a devilish glint in his eyes.

"How was your day?"

A dumb look crossed Link's face. He seemed to be thinking, _is this girl serious?_ But then he burst out laughing.

"It was pretty good this morning, and then it turned into a living Dark Realm, but right now? I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. I'm pretty content right now." He smiled, but this time the smile was different, it was as if Zelda was speaking to Link from 18 years ago.

She chuckled, a blush sprayed across her cheeks. What was happening to her? She felt free, like whatever had been holding her back before had vanished. That whatever had fettered her to the ground was now broken by just those words and that smile.

"Well, I guess I could say the same thing, I'm pretty happy. Probably the happiest I've been in a very long time. Thank you." Zelda said sincerely.

"You're very welcome."

The waiter came with their drinks and placed them in front of them. He then went back to the kitchen and came back soon after with Link's meatballs.

"Cheers, to a friendship regained and now stronger than ever." Link said, raising his drink high in the air. Zelda smirked,

"I would, but it seems I'm too short to reach your arm. Please, take pity on the vertically challenged and lower your arm."

Link laughed again, "Alright fine, then I change my toast. Cheers to friendship, and all the short people in the world."

Zelda laughed and tapped her glass on his and took a sip. A strong, bitter taste entered her system, along with a strong taste of mint and orange. She almost spit the alcohol up, but she held it down. Link laughed, taking a small sip of his drink before placing it down again.

"Forgot to tell you that they make their drinks strong."

"Nah, that wouldn't have been important to know or anything." Zelda said sarcastically.

Link chuckled again.

"Marin made me promise not to get wasted again, but I don't know… I never had a high tolerance of pure vodka." She continued, daring to take another small sip of the concoction. She winced as she gulped it down.

"Do you want to get a different one? One that is more diluted?" Link asked, slightly concerned.

"No, no. I got this. I mean, it's a very good drink. Just a little strong. I just have to take it slow. I am also going to have to steal one of your meatballs." She responded, taking her fork and going in for the sizzling meat.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Link said, blocking her fork.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"First, you have to flatter my vanity. Only then will I be able to part with one of Chef Gohma's special meatballs."

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, "what's next? I'm gonna have to kiss you?"

"That would be nice…"

"Oh shut up."

Zelda thought for a moment, then smiled coyly.

"Alright, Sir Link, AKA Mr. Bunny. You are sweet, funny, handsome, dastardly, super smart; respectful… must I go on?"

"Yes, otherwise no balls for you."

"You're a jack ass."

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment."

"You better, otherwise I might have to take back everything I just said."

"Oh, we definitely don't want that. So please, continue."

He waved her on, a silly glint in his eye. Zelda shook her head and took another sip of her drink.

"Alright fine, but only because those damn meatballs look tasty."

He just smiled expectantly; he obviously wanted her to say something specific.

"Well… You are a great friend, and we have a lot of fantastic memories. Like the time we hijacked Mr. Gaepora's car because he failed me on a test, but then you lost the guts and jumped out, forcibly dragging me with you. He found it the next day, but we were never caught.

"Or the day the Yearbook Club took that photo… Your father had just gotten promoted, so South Faron was definitely in your sights because you had the scholarships, and your parents could afford the tuition. You were so happy, that after the picture we went to your parents and had a huge party. Your folks were great, so happy.

"Also the time when I formally introduced you to my parents, before my mom got surgery, you actually made my dad laugh. What was the joke? Oh yeah, one of those dumb blonde jokes at my expense. When I thought I had locked myself in my car and called you. Turns out, it's practically impossible to lock yourself in your car. But that doesn't matter, what matters is… You made high school enjoyable, and I thank you."

Zelda wiped a happy tear from her eye, and Link beamed at her.

"Well said, mon amie, well said. I think you deserve this." He handed her a meatball on his fork, and she took it gratefully.

"You know," Zelda continued, "We've led great lives, even if parts of it were separated."

"Yeah…"

"I thought that all I would have left from you is these memories, but you're here now. In front of me, in a bar, laughing like old times! Remind me to give Marin and Midna a hug when I get back to my apartment."

Link chuckled, when his phoned buzzed. He looked at it, and his face lit up.

"Hey, do you want to go see _Mars Attacks_? It's playing in a half hour, my buddy just texted me."

Zelda grinned, "This is like our second date all over again isn't it?"

He just grinned.

So they went to the movies… and it sucked.

But they already knew that _Mars Attacks_ wasn't going to be that great… It was made at least twenty years ago. So the entire time, Zelda and Link just laughed at it, pretended to be scared, laughed some more, etc. etc.

When they got out of the theater, Zelda found herself hugging Link while he had his arms around her shoulders. It really was like the second date, and Zelda was oddly pleased about that. It was around 9:30, and Girl's Night was likely to be over, and Sheik and Kafei were probably heading back to the hotel room. As if he was reading her mind, Link said,

"I guess it's time to take you home."

She smiled, "Yeah…"

Link hailed a cab, while Zelda put on her coat. The night had gotten chilly all of a sudden, and she couldn't help thinking whether or not Sheik grabbed his jacket. She shrugged the thought off, seeing as how she would see him in a few minutes.

Link helped her into the cab, and got in after her. They chatted amiably for a few minutes until they got to her hotel. Link took her up to her room, and when they got to her door, she turned to him.

"I had a really great time tonight. I'm really glad we made up."

Link smiled, and nodded. They stood there staring into each other's eyes for a few moments, before finally…

They kissed.

It was brief, and awkward. Zelda quickly drew away, as it was still a strange sensation to like Link this much. He understood, and gave a sad half smile.

"Well, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"Yeah." She swiped her room key, and entered her room. She closed it softly behind, and leaned her back against the door. She heard Link chuckle softly before his steps receded down the hallway. She placed her purse on the stand by the door, and walked with a light skip to her room. She heard someone in the kitchen talking, and figuring it was Sheik and Kafei, she exited her room after dispatching her coat and entered the kitchen.

What she was greeted with was something she didn't expect.

Kafei was there, with Anju. He looked shaken up, and she was consoling him. Midna and Marin were at the counter, disconsolate looks on their faces.

"What's up?" Zelda asked, worried.

Everyone looked up surprised, and Anju cried out.

"Oh my goddess, Zelda! We're so sorry!"

"Sorry? For what?"

Kafei cleared his throat, "S-sheik is missing. He ran away from me at the arcade… I… have no idea where he could've gone."

* * *

**Yep, down to the wire here. It's been a pretty good learning experience writing this story, and I can't wait to finish it. I've decided not to do a sequel, because I don't have a story to write about... Anyway, I hope to heaven that I update once more during my break, or at least send another chapter to my Beta. Please look for my Thanksgiving one-shot (It's not written yet, but I'm going to write it right after this is uploaded :P). Also, someone please tell me of a good Seth X Eirika fiction from FE8.. I just started playing it, and I'm obsessed with the pairing at the moment. Clichè yes, but come on, they're adorable. Anyway... Thanks for Reading!**


	13. The Prodigal Son

**Hello! So it has been awhile! I'd apologize, but I doubt very many of you missed me. Anyway, here is chapter 13, and I'll forewarn you, it's pretty angsty.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda, any of its characters, or Guitar Hero. That is all.**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13: The Prodigal Son

Zelda couldn't believe what she'd just heard, she refused to. She laughed nervously,

"You're kidding," she said, wishing with all her heart for Kafei to jump out of the chair and yell 'Got you! Sheik's not missing; he's in his room, reading a book'

The looks on everyone's faces told her otherwise.

Zelda felt all the energy inside of her dissipate, and she sank to the floor. Her eyes wide, she stared imploringly at her friends.

"What happened?" she whispered.

Kafei refused to look her in the eyes as he said, "we were at the arcade, and Sheik was playing Guitar Hero. I told him I was going to the bathroom and that he was to wait there. When I came back, though, he was gone. I searched everywhere Zelda, I really did. I got the arcade security to look, I asked everyone around, and I looked down the street. He just disappeared."

Zelda couldn't speak, her voice was gone. Her son, her wonderful son, was gone. Panic set in and she stood up quickly, hoping to immediately go and look for him in the apartment. Maybe he had returned? Black dots clouded her vision as she stood, and she almost fell over again, but Marin had caught her.

Midna spoke up, "we already called the cops, Zellie, and they're looking too. We called you too, but you left your cell phone here, and no one knew Link's number."

Marin hugged her friend tightly, "we'll find him Zel, no doubt about it."

Anju piped up too, her brown hair shaking as she tried to console her friend, "we will! Sheik's a smart kid, there's no way he walked off with a stranger. Plus, he hasn't been to many places here, so we don't have far to look, and we're all searching."

Zelda looked at all of her friends, but she couldn't focus on them, her mind was elsewhere, somewhere far away. She could imagine Sheik, his skin pale as he shivered in the cold. He would be safe for a bit, but then some creep would notice him and…

Zelda didn't dare finish the thought. No longer lightheaded, she stood up straight. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the tsunami inside her, which threatened to drown her in panic and grief.

"O-okay. Does everyone know what happened?"

Kafei nodded, "Ruto, Saria, and Romani went to the zoo to try their luck there."

Zelda sighed, "So where does that leave us?"

"No one has looked at the hospital or the airport. I'm not sure why he would go to either of those places, but it's worth a shot," said Midna, running a hand through her hair.

"Then it's decided," said Marin, "Anju, Kafei, and I will go the airport. Zelda and Midna will go to the hospital."

Zelda could only nod, helpless. Everyone nodded and got up to go search. Zelda followed Midna mutely back out of the apartment, when a sudden idea struck her.

"Wait," she said to Midna, and went back in to grab her phone. She came out and dialed Link's number. It rang twice before he picked up,

"Hello?" he said.

"Link," Zelda replied, feeling her voice crack, "Sheik's gone missing. No one knows where he could be, and I'm scared!"

Link was silent, shocked, "Kidnapped?" he then asked quietly.

Zelda shook her head, "we don't think so, but… but it can't be ruled out. Midna and I are heading back to the hospital where you got your arm fixed to see if he went there."

"Okay, I'll meet you there. Don't worry Zelda, we'll find him. He didn't run away, he loves you too much."

Zelda only nodded, even though Link wouldn't be able to tell, and hung up. While she was on the phone, her and Midna had ridden down the elevator to the first floor and had boarded a cab. Zelda stared at her phone, feeling her eyes prick with tears, and she silently cried to herself.

What had happened Sheik? Why did you run off?

* * *

They arrived at the hospital, and Zelda's heart sank. It was incredibly busy, even though it was now almost 10:30! The taxi driver dropped her and Midna off by the ER, and Midna told him to wait. Zelda ran inside while she did this, praying to whatever deity was listening that Sheik was in there waiting. She knew, however, that he wouldn't.

Why would Sheik come to the hospital? If he had been hurt, he would've waited for Kafei before acting. They were wasting their time and Zelda's little boy was still out there all alone somewhere.

There was a long line waiting to receive emergency treatment, but Zelda just dashed past them to where the two nurses from before were once again sitting. Zelda was actually somewhat glad to see them; they had seen her son before and should be able to help her. Nurse Cremia was talking to someone in line, while Nurse Bombchu had just finished. Just before the purple haired nurse could call for the next person, Zelda ran up to her.

"Hello, what is your problem tonight?" Nurse Bombchu yawned, raising her hand to cover her mouth.

"Um, hello. This is urgent,"

"Everything here is always urgent," interrupted the nurse.

"Uh, yes, but you see, I was here before and I was wondering if you could help me."

Nurse Bombchu just eyed her, "Ma'am are you here to report an injury or mispay. If it's the latter, I'm going to have to ask you to go to Patient Service and file it with them. Now, move along."

"I'm not injured, but only you two can help me. You see, I was here the other day with two other people. My friend and my son-"

"Look," the nurse interrupted again, "we get hundreds of people in this ER daily. There's no way that we're going to remember three random people."

"Please, my son's-"

Nurse Cremia just turned from her patient and looked at Zelda, "sorry, we can't help you. Now move along."

Zelda was horrified, how dare they treat her like that! She was about to scream at them and give them hell when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her, but all she saw was a flash of green as Link pushed past her to get to the front desk. He was angry, and if Nurse Bombchu didn't remember Zelda, she certainly remembered Link.

The nurse was about to greet him when he interrupted her, something that made Zelda very happy. As happy as she could get of course.

"Look," Link growled, "stopped being colossal bitches and listen to what the lady has to say. Her son has gone missing and we came here in good faith, thinking you guys would help us. However, if your idea of quality service is to treat the customer like shit, then I recommend that you quit your jobs right now."

The nurse's eyes widened in shock, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"Well if you hadn't kept cutting her off you might've known."

"My son," Zelda said, stepping in, "he's 12 and about this tall with blonde hair and violet eyes. Um, I think he might be really pissed right now, so he might be off punching a wall somewhere."

Nurse Bombchu thought for a moment, "…Nope, a kid like that never came in here. Do you remember someone like that Lait?"

Nurse Cremia looked over at them, "Hm? A boy? No I haven't seen one that fits that description."

Nurse Bombchu looked at Zelda apologetically, "Would you like me to phone the rest of the hospital to see if they've seen him?"

Zelda nodded, "please."

Nurse Bombchu picked up the black office phone and dialed several numbers, whenever someone picked up she said,

"Hi, this is Nurse Bombchu in the Emergency Room. I was wondering if you noticed a 12 year old boy about 5 ft tall with blonde hair and violet eyes walking around have you?"

The person on the other end always responded in the negative. Zelda's son wasn't in the hospital.

When Nurse Bombchu had run out of people to call, she turned to Zelda and Link, her face sad and tired,

"I'm sorry; it looks like he's not here."

Zelda hung her head in defeat, and Link led her back to Midna and out to the Taxi. Outside, the wind was picking up and Zelda could smell rain in the air. This wasn't good; Sheik only had a light jacket with him when he left. He was going to freeze. Zelda felt her insides crumble once again, and her eyes stung. She had cried so much today, that she had no more tears left.

The trio got in the cab and just stared at each other. Where to look next? Back at the arcade? The hotel? Help the search at the zoo? The airport?

Zelda threw her hands up in defeat. She was done with life. It seemed that ever since Ike died, all her happiness was destroyed. Her peaceful family had been ripped out from the seams and tossed aside like yesterday's garbage. What happened to those peaceful days spent out in the yard, playing Frisbee and drinking iced tea? What happened to the laughter?

Had it ever been there in the first place?

Or had her heart always been this fractured?

Zelda couldn't take it; she needed Sheik next to her ASAP. She would look all night and bust down every door if she had to.

Link reached out and grabbed Zelda's hand, squeezing it softly.

"You need a break," he said, "my house is nearby; let's stop there before we resume the search."

Zelda was about to protest when Midna interrupted, "Zel, listen. It's a good idea. You've been through a rough day; your nerves must be shot. In that condition you won't ever be able to find Sheik. Let's take a break."

Zelda sighed, two against one, no use arguing. Then again, Zelda really didn't have any energy left; she felt she had aged 100 years in two hours. Link told the taxi driver his address, and they finally left the hospital. The drive was quiet, but not peaceful. Each one of them was on edge, watching the windows like a hawk, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they'd spot the blonde boy walking on the edge of the road.

Link hadn't let go of Zelda's hand, for which she was grateful. It felt good, to hold someone's hand like that, and in a time of such mental and physical stress, any extra support was enough to keep Zelda from losing her mind completely.

They arrived at Link's house, something Zelda had fled in haste just a few hours earlier. Had it really been that same day? It felt like forever ago to Zelda. The trio got out of the taxi, with Link helping Zelda stay on her feet. They ascended the hill to Link's house, and that's when it happened.

There was a bolt of lightening, a clap of thunder, and down came the rain.

It soaked them all to the core, and it was as cold as the breath of a Freezard. They walked faster, but Zelda was being more resistant.

"There's no time for this!" she cried, "Sheik is out there in this awful weather, he's going to freeze! We can't relax now! Link! Midna!"

The two ignored her, and Link practically dragged her up the hill. She started pulling on his arm; he needed to let her go!

"Let go of me!" she shouted, "Let go of me this instant!"

They kept walking, and the ground was too slippery for Zelda to plant her feet, she decided to resort to drastic measures.

She bit him. On the arm.

"Ack!" Link yelled, finally letting go. Zelda took this chance to turn and run back down the hill. She heard Link turn to Midna and tell her to keep going up the hill, and she became indignant. These two were keeping her from her son!

Link ran after her, and caught her easily. He grabbed her by the waist and tried to pull her back up the hill. Zelda resisted of course, profanities leaving her mouth as quickly as the stream of water dripping off her hair.

"Let go of me you bastard!" she screamed, "I hate you! I hate you! Let me go!"

Link froze and let her go. Zelda fell to the ground at the sudden absence of his pulling, but she didn't stay down for long. She got up and continued running down the hill, if she was lucky, she could still catch the taxi.

There was a yell from Link's house. It was Midna.

"Zelda! Zelda, wait! Come quick!"

Zelda ignored her, thinking it a trick.

"Zelda, its Sheik! Sheik's here! Zelda!"

Zelda stopped in her tracks. If this was a trick, it was a cruel one. Zelda stood in the rain, not daring to turn around. If she did, she was afraid that her world might dissolve like a dream, and she would wake up with Sheik still missing.

"Zel!"

"Mom?"

That's all it took. Spinning swiftly on her toes, Zelda ran up the hill with more vigor than she even knew she had. The scene she saw broke her heart, but it was broken in a good way.

Link was holding Sheik in his arms bridal-style. The poor boy was visibly shivering in his wet clothes. He didn't even have a jacket on. Zelda ran to him, and smothered him in a hug. He was too weak to leave Link's arms, so the three of them stood there, Zelda hugging her child and Link watching over them both.

"Oh, my boy is safe," Zelda whispered into Sheik's hair.

Midna was on the phone with everyone else, telling them the good news. A weight had been lifted off of Zelda's shoulders, a weight she never wanted placed back on. Her son had been lost, but was now found.

* * *

**Eh, so there's my reference to the Bible (XD), but yeah. There's probably only going to be one more chapter plus an epilogue after this, so we're coming to the end. Don't worry though (although I highly doubt you are), I have another story on the way. I might post the first chapter soon, but definitely not before Reminiscence is done. You may have also noticed I deleted Nightwane's Curse. I am discontinuing that story, and just having it there on my profile is making me really guilty, so I got rid of it. Nice right?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review if you liked it, but still review even if you hated it. Have a nice day.**


	14. Epilogue

**Hello treasured reader! I must regretfully say you've stumbled upon the final chapter of**

**Reminiscence is Calling!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Epilogue

"Oof!" Zelda grunted as she dropped a heavy cardboard box full of books into an empty foyer. She stood up straight and stretched her back, feeling it crack. She dropped her hands and glanced down at the box she was carrying. On the top was the white yearbook from high school. Zelda smirked and knelt down, picking the book up. She thumbed through the pages again, stopping on the "Senior Picks" page.

She sighed after a few moments and threw the book back in the box, "guess I won't need those anymore. I should probably throw them out or something…"

"Don't do that!" called a male voice from the doorway. Zelda looked up and saw Sheik standing in it, holding another cardboard box labeled _Kitchen_. He walked past her swiftly, and Zelda heard a box hit a surface, and she guessed Sheik had placed the box on the table. When he came back, he knelt beside Zelda.

"These hold precious memories, Mom. Don't get rid of them."

Zelda smiled and ruffled Sheik's hair. She thought back to the day when he had gone missing, and how she, Link, and Midna found him.

* * *

_The four of them sat around Link's kitchen table, mugs of steaming hot chocolate in front of them. They were all wrapped in towels except for Link, who had changed. He had offered to give the rest of them dry clothes, but they had all politely refused. _

_Sheik was crying, muttering apology after apology. Zelda sat across from him, transfixed. She could say nothing, only stare. Was that really her son sitting in front of her? Or was it a dream, with Fate playing cruel tricks on her. Midna sat quietly next to Zelda, watching the mother and son intently. Link did the same, but he evidently got frustrated by the lack of conversation._

"_Sheik," he said softly, "how about you tell us what happened? It's okay, calm down. Your mother isn't angry. In fact, none of us are. We're just worried. So just tell us what happened."_

_Sheik hiccupped, but calmed down a bit. He wiped his running nose and his eyes on his sleeves. The adults waited intently for him to speak._

* * *

There was a knock on the doorframe, and both mother and son turned to see who was there. It was Marin, smiling from ear to ear. She held a box in her hand as well, this one read _Bathroom/ Utilities_. Zelda smiled and stood, waving her over to take the box from her friend's hands.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, Zellie! I've got this one, and Midna's grabbing another. We figured you could use the help!"

Zelda smiled warmly, "Alright, thank you Marin. The bathroom's up the stairs, first door on your left."

Marin nodded and walked/skipped past Zelda, who couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Sheik had left to go grab another box, and Zelda decided to do the same.

* * *

"_I don't know how I came up with the idea," began Sheik, "all I know is that I was angry. Really, really angry. When I saw Mom crying after she had come back from Link's house, I felt it was all his fault. He was destroying everything Mom and I worked so hard to fix. I though that she'd be depressed and upset all the time again, like when Dad died."_

_Sheik took a deep breathe, the tears returning. Zelda snapped out of her daze enough to reach across the wooden table and take her son's hand comfortingly. He smiled slightly, and continued, _

"_So I felt I had to do something, anything, to put things back to the way they were. I figured the best way to do so was to confront Link head on, but I didn't know when I could do so. For a while, I just waited," _

_Sheik glanced up at Link regretfully. Something in his eyes said that all was not forgiven, but that the two were closer than ever before. Sheik regretted his actions, and Zelda smiled slightly. He would never run away like that again._

* * *

A few hours later, it seemed that everyone had stopped by Zelda's house. There were a lot of boxes to move, but with a lot of people, a task that would've taken all day took only a couple of hours. Everyone was gathered in Zelda's kitchen, a space that was too small for the amount of people it held. It was small, yes, but state of the art with a stainless steel refrigerator, granite counter tops, and linoleum floor, all newly installed. Zelda looked among the faces of her friends, Mr. Tarin (Marin's hubby), Marin, Midna, Mr. Twilli (Midna's hubby), Anju, Kafei, Romani, Mr. Lait (Romani's hubby), Malon, Saria, Ruto, and Fi. They were all laughing and just having a good time.

Zelda sighed in contentment, when she noticed Sheik wasn't in the room. Slightly nervous, she slipped out of the kitchen and into the Living Room. He wasn't there, but Zelda heard a soft thump coming from the second floor. She ascended the steps, and walked down the carpeted hallway to the room on the end, Sheik's room. She poked her head in, and there Sheik was. He was sorting through all the boxes with his things in them, looking for something.

"Hey, big guy," Zelda said softly. Sheik looked up and smiled, leaning back on his heels.

"Hey Mom," Zelda entered the room and sat down on a chair in the corner, which had been brought in by Kafei.

"What-cha doing?" Zelda asked.

"Looking for that figurine Dad gave me."

"The one of the ninja?"

"Yeah."

Zelda smiled, recalling Sheik's 8th birthday when he had received the present from his father. She remembered him ripping apart the colorful wrapping paper in a frenzy, only to rest eyes on a Sheikan styled ninja, complete with shuriken and daggers.

He had thrown a fit in excitement.

After that, the two were inseparable, and the ninja became Sheik's most prized possession. Zelda decided to help him look, and began shifting through the box closest to her, her thoughts far away, delving into the past.

* * *

"_I had a lot of fun at the Arcade. I really did, but my mind was distracted. Mr. Dotour tried his best to keep me happy, but I didn't listen. I knew what I had to do, so when Mr. Dotour went to the bathroom, I left."_

_Zelda inhaled sharply, she knew this already, but that didn't stop the shock from settling into her system. Her son had never been so devious, when did he change? Sheik paused to gather his breath, and Zelda removed his hand from hers, lifting her mug to her face and sipping her hot chocolate. It was surreal. At the same time this was happening, she was off having fun with Link. Had she been a bad mother? Should she have called Mr. Dotour and informed him of the situation so that Sheik could know? Would that have changed anything? Probably not, but still Zelda felt guilty._

"Aha! Found it!" Zelda's hand snagged the familiar rough plastic of the ninja. Its paint chipping and one leg missing, it looked like it had gone through the slaughterhouse. Yet Sheik still loved it dearly. Zelda thanked the goddesses that he was still innocent in that respect. She wouldn't know what to do if one day Sheik became more interested in girls than plastic ninjas. But those were thoughts for another time.

Sheik cried for joy and took the figurine from his mother. If he had been a girl, he probably would've hugged the poor thing, but instead he got to his feet and ran out of his room, his thoughts dancing along in some imaginary jungle with his toy. Zelda chuckled and got to her feet as well. Her paranoia from that night wasn't fully gone, but it was getting better, especially now that the problem with Link had been solved.

The remaining two days in Faron had actually been peaceful, and the group had gone to a skydiving lesson. Zelda had a chronic fear of heights so she didn't join them, instead she had chosen a 'Mommy and Me Day' with Sheik. The two of them had spent a rejuvenating day at a museum before flying back to Castle Town the next day. Link had seen them off of course, and it was at that moment, when Link hugged Zelda good bye, that she had decided to make a difficult decision.

"_I hopped in a cab," said Sheik, "and made my way to a grocery store. Using the directory there, I found Link's house. The taxi had left however, and the house wasn't far from where I was so I walked. I arrived just as Link was leaving. He was all dressed up, so I thought he was going on a date, and my anger boiled over. It was like he had kicked me while I was down. I was so angry; I decided to wait until he came back. But he didn't come back. Not until you found me."_

_Sheik's eyes watered and they threatened to spill over. Zelda practically leaped out of her chair as she made her way to her son, pulling him into a bear hug. He cried softly into her chest, hiccupping again every now and then. He was so vulnerable, like he would just break. Midna couldn't keep silent any more and she rubbed her hand on Sheik's back as she said, _

"_Sheik, you're such an idiot."_

_Her words at first rang harshly, but anyone who knew Midna could tell her real intention. It was her way of forgiving Sheik, and this admittance cheered the young boy up immensely. He wiped his eyes and nose on the back of his hand again, and looked up at Midna with large puppy dog eyes._

"_Y-you're not mad?"_

"_Of course not, stupid! Now come here and give me a hug."_

_Sheik obliged and suddenly there was a three way hug. Zelda could feel Link's presence stiffen behind her, and she knew he felt awkward just standing there. Sheik must've felt it too, because after a few moments, he turned to Link._

"_Mr. Link," the boy said softly, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, I swear. It's just… Mom's all I have left."_

_Zelda could feel her eyes prick at Sheik's touching comment, and Link nodded slowly, a small smile on his face. He knelt down in front of Sheik, placing his hands on his shoulders._

"_Sheik, I think I owe you an apology too. I hurt your mom today, a fact I'm not proud of. I don't think I deserve either of you, you are wonderful people. So, I will leave if you want me to."_

_Zelda turned her head quickly to meet Link's eyes. What was he saying? He was going to leave again? No, not again. Once was already too much. _

_Link turned towards her and met Zelda's gaze evenly. She tried to find something, anything that would mean he would stay. She found none. It was all up to Sheik now._

* * *

There was yelling from downstairs that broke Zelda out of her trance. She went down to investigate and found Kafei and Mr. Twili locked in an arm wrestle on the kitchen table. She looked at Midna, who gave her an impish grin. It must've been her idea. The two men were in a stalemate, but it seemed to Zelda that Mr. Twili would win. The guy was built, and (no offense intended) Kafei paled in comparison. A few moments later, Mr. Twili pushed Kafei's arm to side, winning the match. Everyone yelled out, either in joy or saying Mr. Twili had cheated (which was very unlikely). Zelda couldn't help but laugh herself. She had somehow started an impromptu party. Anju was consoling her husband, when Zelda saw her whisper something in his ear. He broke out in a grin and ran over to Zelda.

"Zelda, do you have any champagne?"

"What? Um, maybe… Why?"

Kafei just smiled, and glanced back at Anju. Whatever the diminutive man was thinking, it was probably important. So, Zelda made her way over to the fridge. She opened it and brought out the single bottle of champagne. She grabbed some glasses out of a box, washed them off, and handed them out. Her friends kept giving her questioning looks, but of course all she could do was shrug, unsure of what the need for the beverage was anyway. Sheik was sitting at a table with the figurine, and, on the spur of the moment, Zelda handed him glass too. Once everyone had their glasses, she filled them with champagne. Sheik got less than everyone else of course, but nonetheless, he still got some.

Everyone turned to look at her expectantly, but she just gestured to Kafei, who cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Excuse me, everyone. I have an announcement to make," said the young purple haired man, "but Anju just informed me that… We're having a child!"

Everyone was stunned for a brief moment before there were shouts of congratulations and pats on the backs all around. The frenzy of joy swallowed everyone, and Anju was surrounded, as was Kafei. The woman took Anju's champagne away and gave it to one of the men. They led her to the sitting room and sat her on the only chair there. Zelda was pushed along with them, and watched as her friends began questioning the poor girl. Zelda smiled, suddenly feeling all warm and fuzzy inside at the companionship bursting in her house.

There was a ring of the doorbell echoing through the house that Zelda just barely made out. She heard someone get up from the kitchen table and run out into the foyer. Sheik ran past the sitting room and to the door. Zelda poked her head out as Sheik opened it, and her eyes widened when she saw who was standing there.

* * *

_Sheik smiled lamely, "Mr. Link, sorry. But can you leave? Just for a bit? I don't think you should be gone forever, something tells me that would make Mom sad. But you can see us off if you want in two days."_

_Link nodded, a flash of sadness in his eyes, and then it was gone. He kindly let them stay until they finished their drinks, but after that he ushered them out the door, which shut with a strange sense of finality. The trio said nothing as they made their way back to the hotel in a taxi. Zelda felt she should say something to Sheik. Tell him he was wrong, that Link should stay. But in her heart, she agreed with her son. That Link being gone for awhile, but not forever, was the best choice. She hadn't come to Faron for a new love… first she needed to strengthen the one she had. The love she had for her son._

_How could she have not known? How did she not notice that both she and Sheik were still hurting? Somehow, they had fooled themselves into thinking they had healed, when they really hadn't. Link had been the catalyst needed to get the two back on the right track._

_Zelda's soul had never felt lighter and a smile plastered itself on her face. She knew now was not the time to smile, but she couldn't hold it back. She was free._

* * *

"Mr. Link!" cried Sheik. The young boy pounced on the older man, knocking him to the ground. Link laughed jovially, as if the two had never parted. Zelda stood rooted firmly to the ground. What could she do? She was still in shock. Link was at her door? How did he find out about her big decision to move to South Faron? How did he find her address? More importantly, what took him so long? Zelda and Sheik had healed months ago!

Zelda turned her head to look into the sitting room, where Marin sat, trying (but failing) to not look suspicious. When she noticed Zelda looking at her, she grinned from ear to ear. She made a shooing motion with her hand, telling Zelda to get moving. Zelda nodded lamely, and walked out into the foyer.

Link was standing there, laughing with Sheik, the hate from the boy long gone. Link held Sheik's ninja figurine tightly in his hand, almost possessively, and if someone who didn't know better saw them, they would think they were brothers. Wait no; they were closer then brothers now. They were more like a father and a son.

THE END.

* * *

**Wahhhhhhhh! This is the last chapter! I can't say how much fun I had writing this story for you guys! This just makes me even more excited for my next story to come out. Oh my gosh I need to get on that! I have plenty of time now that school is out for the summer. Please, if you guys enjoyed (or even hated) this story, please leave a comment telling me so. They are greatly appreciated. For readers like you, I want to be a better writer. Thanks so much for reading Reminiscence is Calling! See you later!**


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